What is the connection between employee voice and job quality?

Abstract

Though concerns with job quality have a long genesis in social science research, the subject has gained increased attention from policymakers in recent decades. Job quality is a multidimensional concept and a multidisciplinary area of research. The core concern of this chapter is the connection between employee voice and job quality, an area which is underemphasized in job quality debates. The focus is primarily upon the experience of the UK, a nation which has achieved strong employment levels in recent decades but where concerns have increasingly been expressed by various stakeholders regarding the quality of jobs. The chapter therefore considers the relationship between employee voice and job quality by reviewing current evidence before considering the implications for the future. The key argument is that, to improve understanding and policymaking in the context of developments in working patterns, a better theorization and conceptualization of voice and its relationship with job quality is necessary