Revisiting high-waged labour market demand in the global cities: British professional and managerial workers in New York City

This paper reflects upon the labour market demand of high-waged professional and managerial workers within global cities during the 1980s boom. The argument is that a single international labour market for professional and managerial workers was established in global cities and that this distinctive division of labour is reproduced between the global cities through: labour market restructuring; cultural and social professionalization; the employment policies of transnational corporations; and the carreer ambitions of the labour force. The argument is supported by a detailed study of British high-waged professional and managerial workers employed within Manhattan's financial community.