麻豆社

In part three of the British at work, Kirsty Young hears how the 80s provided opportunity to forge new working identities far removed from what the sort of jobs your parents did. Charles Handy spent much of the eighties as a management consultant watching work change. Alexandra Bennigsen personified the times - seizing the opportunity and transcending old definitions of blue collar and white collar employment, embracing a third way which needed a new definition - the yuppie.

The 1980s were an era marked by powerful contrasts. For some work meant liberation, aspiration and opportunity, while it meant years of pain and disenchantment for others.

The programme highlights the emergence of a new self employed and self starting class eager to embrace Margaret Thatcher鈥檚 message of self reliance and the pursuit of wealth. For many people this meant exploring new job opportunities and working in new kinds of jobs. For others the spectre of unemployment haunted the decade.