No ties that bind : low skill workers, social networks and job search in the Silicon Valley's new economy

This dissertation is concerned with the relationship between economic growth and social and economic equity. Equity is defined as the economic growth that enables lesser skilled workers to access employment opportunities that provide them some measure of upward mobility. The thesis considers whether personal networks - a key means of searching for work - are likely to provide any upward mobility for low-skill workers. This thesis examines the role social networks play in providing access to employment opportunities and upward mobility in light of the new economy. In the old economy, lesser skilled workers used friends and family to gain access to entry-level jobs. Because these jobs were largely unskilled, employers looked primarily to these contacts as references for employment. Once hired, the social contract between the worker and the firm meant workers could depend on those jobs for lifelong employment. In the new economy, flexible work systems and new forms of work have created a more fluid labor market with significantly more job changing. As lesser skilled workers negotiate this new terrain, they must determine how to use their networks to identify employment opportunities that offer wage mobility. This study measures the personal contacts of a small sample of 44 lesser skilled workers against the fastest growing occupations and industries in the regional economy of the Silicon Valley.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2002

Author dc:creator

• Ajose, Lande U

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Frank S. Levy.

• Urban Studies and Planning.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/8523

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/8523