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In particular, it is worth exploring whether these changes may have contributed, in any way, to the weak wage puzzle experienced over recent years. And, if so, given that these trends are likely to persist, whether they carry implications for the durability of wage weakness too. Why, in principle, might these changes affect wage behaviour? One story here is “divide and conquer”. There is power in numbers. A workforce that is more easily divided than in the past may find itself more easily conquered. In other words, a world of divisible work may reduce workers’ wage-bargaining power. Another story is that more flexible working practices may have induced previously inactive people back into work. With more people willing to enter employment, upward pressure on wages may be dampened even as labour demand picks up given the higher rate of labour market participation in the economy. In either case, the downstream consequences would be similar: weaker wage growth than in the past, for a given level of unemployment or demand in the economy. That is the theory. What empirical evidence is there to support these stories? The Changing Nature of Work  Let me start by outlining some of the facts on the changing nature of work and the divisibility of labour. At the level of the profession or sector, one clear diagnostic comes from the changing pattern of unionisation. In 1990, around 38% of employees in Great Britain belonged to a trade union.