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From: Andrew Harding
Date: 10/13/01
Time: 9:10:26 AM
Remote Name: 62.6.83.110
Hello Maureen,
Thanks for your positive feedback on the BSA employment project. Your point about well qualified people who strugglewith interviews because of communication skills adequate to the task has some connection with a recent report by the Industrial Society here in the UK.
In the report; 'Looking good, sounding right: style counselling in the new economy', Chris Warhurst and Dennis Nickson of Strathclyde University examine the emerging trend for bosses –particularly in the rapidly expanding service sector - to choose staff for their self-presentation skills rather than technical skills or experience. They say that Government training policy must urgently address this demand, or risk the creation of an employment underclass who don’t meet the ‘aesthetic’ standards of prospective employers. The report agrees that the rise in ‘aesthetic labour’ increases the potential for discrimination, but argues that creating training initiatives which address these needs is a more realistic approach to social inclusion than ignoring or condemning them - options which could hamper economic competitiveness and social mobility.
Regards,
Andrew