Student employment within services: a UK, Central and Eastern European perspective

Characterised by long operating hours, very competitive markets, labour-intensity, and highly variable, often unpredictable demand patterns, many service sector employers pursue ‘hard’ HRM policies, relying upon cheap, flexible labour in order to remain viable. In developed western economies student labour has become the bedrock of many such services, most notably in the fast food, hospitality / tourism and retail industries. Over the last decade, the economic transformation of Central and Eastern Europe has created more jobs in a developing hospitality and tourism sector. This paper conducts a preliminary assessment of the extent to which Central and Eastern European students make themselves available and are used as a labour resource. The findings are compared to the results of a similar study conducted four years earlier in the UK. In this way, the extent to which Central and Eastern European students emulate their Western counterparts is examined and some consequences of the “westernisation” of Central and Eastern European economies on the use of student labour are assessed