Internal - External Labour Market Interplay

Starting from the definition of key concepts such as Internal and external labour markets, the aim of this thesis is to understand in which direction the interplay between these markets is going to develop, revisiting the traditional theory of labour market segmentation from the point of view of the most important scholars in the field such as Reich, Gordon and Edwards, Doeringer and Piore, Grimshaw and Rubery and Osterman.
This study has been divided into four chapters. Starting with the “classical” literature, The contemporary phase of internal/external labour market interplay will be analyzed.
The first chapter introduces the concepts of internal and external labour markets and, having provided the concepts of Segmented and Dual Labour market theories, contributes to the background necessary in order to analyze the following chapters and to better understand the key concept of interplay between labour markets analyzing various aspects such as job rewards, the role of market forces, tastes and attitudes and the roots of segmentation.
The second chapter focuses on the views of Reich, Gordon and Edwards, Doeringer and Piore, Grimshaw and Rubery and Osterman. Such analysis will move from a “divide and conquer”, more Marxist-oriented explanation of segmentation to a more economical than political and “practical” consideration.
The third chapter aims to introduce the concept of flexibility, could be considered as a turning point regarding the concept of the labour market and its analysis. This surely, has to be considered as fundamental in understanding how labour markets interplay, reshaping body and arising conflicts.
Finally, the fourth chapter, presents evidences of the internal labour market changes affecting interrelated factors such as the organizational side of a company, focusing on those employee-related dimension linked with the more common use of downsizing practices. In this logic, economic pressures, the growing demand for flexibility and the increasing fragmentation of organizations has led to a lower level of job security, a sharp decrease in the possibility of internal career routes and to a shift in job ladders, from vertical to a more horizontal ones.