Work histories in television

Abstract

The labour market in Britain's television industry has been transformed in the last 20 years with the emergence of a large freelance workforce and proliferation of work on short-term contracts. This article uses data from the BFI `Television Industry Tracking Study', a major longitudinal study of creative workers in television carried out between 1994 and 1998. Case studies of individuals with contrasting work histories are used to compare variations within and across age cohorts, to assess the changing set of values of these creative workers, and to explore the variety of coping strategies which they deploy to combat uncertainty.