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The paper aims to examine employment relations practices and labour market features of 4‐5 star luxury multinational chain (MNC) and domestic hotels operating in the Brisbane‐Gold Coast corridor in Australia and discuss the implications that competing on price and quality has on employment, wages and training.

The study used data drawn from a large managerial and employee relations/demographic survey covering wages, employment status, age, gender, working conditions and training, including interview data from hotel HRM managers.

The data showed a persistence of gendered, low waged and segmented labour markets dominated by flexible labour. Competition between MNC and domestic hotels were not found to be the conduit of “new” HRM practices as a competitive edge. Both MNC and domestic hotels shape the hotel labour market in a way which perpetuates cost minimization strategies based on an increasingly skilled, yet flexible and low cost labour force.

Of the 14 hotels, only three were domestic. MNC luxury hotels dominate the sample. Rather a straight forward convergence thesis, MNC and domestic hotels have been compelled to compete on price and standard quality.

While not a deliberate strategy of a “a race to the bottom”, the 4‐5 star luxury MNC and domestic hotels in the study have re‐shaped employment relations practices perpetuating a cost minimization competitive strategy suggesting that a “high road” competitive strategy as portrayed in HRM literature strategy is not the only way for firms such as hotels achieving a competitive edge.

Employee turnover is a significant challenge for human resource management (HRM) strategies and organisational performance. This study seeks to present findings drawn from an extensive survey of labour turnover in the Australian accommodation sector. A particular focus is placed on turnover rates and costs.

Based on labour turnover literature and an industry panel, an online survey was designed and distributed to four‐ and five‐star hotels across Australia. Human resource managers from 64 hotels participated in the survey, providing a representative sample and a response rate of 29 percent.

The research shows that the major costs are attributed to labour turnover. These are costs that both the industry and individual operators should examine closely, as they impact substantially on hotel operating costs and profitability. It also indicates that the levels of service, consumer experience and value may be impacted.

A limitation of the study is its main focus on tangible labour turnover costs. Additionally, findings based on four‐ and five‐star hotels may not apply to other accommodation sectors.

The literature on hotel labour and turnover costs is limited and the paper provides the first major study in the Australian context, adding new knowledge to one's understanding of labour turnover and cost impact on hotels. It also suggests areas where hotels may better address the turnover issue.

This article investigates labour flexibility in the Australian hotel industry. It identifies the different forms of labour used and attempts to provide a theoretical framework that accounts for changes in the pattern of hotel labour utilisation. In the hotel context, decisions concerning the allocation of tasks and labour are made at departmental level through a process of departmentalization where different forms of labour are utilized. The aim is to restructure the supply, effort, timing and intensity of work on a 'just in time' basis. The article suggests that the reorganization of hotel labour markets cannot be explained by a straightforward core-periphery model, rather, the flexibilisation of hotel labour reflects attempts to restructure working time, payment systems and labour costs in the context of broader cost minimization strategies. The implications of the findings at the level of public policy are discussed.

McJobs in the fast‐food sector are a major area of youth employment. This paper explores young people's perceptions of work in this industry.

The paper discusses the results of a survey of students' experiences of McJobs in Australia.

Fast‐food workers were generally dissatisfied with the industrial relations and work organisation aspects of their jobs. Nonetheless, they were generally much more satisfied with the human resource management and social relations aspects of their jobs.

Our research has implications for understanding the human capital development practices adopted by employers in the fast‐food industry and in other sectors, especially those that employ young people. Much of the context for work and employment relations in Australia is comparable with those in most English‐speaking countries. Therefore, our findings have implications for work in similar sectors in other countries, in particular, other English‐speaking countries.

This paper has implications for people who devise recruitment policies and design of jobs. It is a useful reminder that it is no longer appropriate for people to talk in simple terms of satisfaction at work per se; it is vital to differentiate between various aspects and contexts of job satisfaction, or the of the lack of it.

Earlier studies of fast‐food work have tended to be polemical and polarized: either apologias or very critical. This paper adopts a more balanced approach and it puts the findings into context.

Over the last decade, there has been a growing debate about the relationship between industrial relations, human resource management and business strategies. For management, this involves an ongoing reappraisal of the balance between individualism and collectivism and a critique of third party intervention in the employment relationship. Describes a case study of CRA/RTZ in Australia and New Zealand and the managerial strategy used to deconstruct collective industrial relations through the use of standardized individualized contracts.

A shift from collectivism to individualism in managing employees is identified in employment studies. Developments in Australia have reflected this change, accompanied by claimed organisation benefits. This paper examines an empirical data set to examine such claims on key dimensions in the employment relation. The analysis points to few differences in views between employees working under individual contracts and those not. Moreover the factors generating concern over individual and firm performance among employees differed little between the two groups. Traditional work factors underpinned attitudes for both. The differences that emerge from organisation size, union membership and gender appear to be inconsistent with the claims of individualism. The data point to the importance of general employee concerns – job satisfaction and perceived management style – in generating employee commitment and loyalty. The findings have implications for the nature of employee relations and management, which are discussed in light of their theoretical and practical ramifications.