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both large and small firms to seek to reduce turnover as much as
possible. The small firms do not have the resources to absorb
overheads of the kind undertaken by larger organisations, and the
majority must rely on paying high market rates (to compensate for
the greater risk of intermittent employment) and on the development
of mutual trust in relations with their experienced workers. Where
a particular trade is fairly localised and employers have a mind to
restrict job-switching, they can often bring to bear effective
sanctions within the trade itself (even to the point of invoking
'tradition' and 'community'). But in general small employers,
especially those engaged in less traditional activities, are most
vulnerable to labour turnover (as of course to market pressures in
general).
these.
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The larger companies, even in manufacturing (partly owing to
their ability to pass on marginal fluctuations through the putting
out/sub-contracting system), seem bent on committing labour to their
firm. The means at their disposal are several. First, fringe
benefits some seem to go to great lengths (see, eg Hong Kong
Spinners) to provide all the amenities of life (accommodation,
medical services, education, transport, meals, recreational
facilities, etc), while others concentrate on only one or two of
Clearly these various benefits appeal to different sections
of the labour force a youth will not have the same regard for
health provisions and children's school fees as a married man with
a growing family, for example. So the pattern of benefits chosen
by a particular firm is likely to reflect the needs of its ideal
labour force. (Housing is one fringe benefit which must be of
fairly universal importance.) The American electronics firms
stress the importance, for their young labour force, of 'civilised'
work conditions, night classes and recreational facilities where
they can make and maintain friendships. This is linked to a
second point -the development of good relations with superiors and
work-mates in the firm. The significance attached to this factor
is underlined by the increasing use of personnel management staff
whose prime function seems to be to iron out interpersonal con-
flicts and to get a 'good company spirit' going. (Images of
Japanese paternalism mixed with American corporate management
styles.) The individualism of Hong Kong workers is tempered by a
marked preference for the formation of enduring relations with
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