Career Legacy of the London Olympic Games 2012 - Among Local East Londoners

Abstract

East London, the host neighbourhood of the Summer Olympic Games 2012, had been a hub of economic deprivation and urban regeneration for the three decades leading up to the Games. The legacy agenda of London 2012 was therefore presented as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to accelerate the regeneration process and address the deprivation issues of the area. One of the primary legacy commitments of the London 2012 strategy framework was to mitigate the impact of the 2008 recession on East London employment by providing jobs, training and career prospects. At the same time, the Olympic Games are also an opportunity for a host city to showcase its delivery qualities and organisational capacities to the world through global media channels. While, because the project nature of the Olympic Games is highly complex, risky and prestigious, the host city and Olympic deliverers have been commonly accused of giving priority to transnational elites over the local workforce. This research addresses the employment outcomes of the London Olympic Games 2012 in terms of legacy commitments for local East Londoners and the delivery dedication. The main research question is: What is the employment legacy of the London Olympic Games 2012 for local East Londoners? The research question is examined by 1) reviewing academic papers and evaluation reports on Olympic employment and 2) a qualitative analysis of collected data from in-depth interviews with five Olympic experts and 80 locals in Olympic boroughs. In addition, 50 LinkedIn profiles of London 2012 professionals are analysed in a complementary study. According to the findings, we can infer that although the Olympic employment programmes of London 2012 met their target number commitments, the occupational engagement of locals was limited to low-skilled jobs. The evidence shows that at the high-skilled employment level of London 2012, recruitment proceeded in an exclusive manner, with Olympic organisations being reluctant to put the delivery of the event at risk by taking people from outside their ‘trust circles’. In terms of the bid rhetoric, it can thus be suggested that the legacy building of the London Olympic Games 2012 displayed particular shortcomings in ensuring that the labour market for the Games was effectively integrative and inclusive for local communities. Although this study focuses on the reality of the employment legacy of London 2012, the findings may well have a bearing on the neoliberal notions behind the legacy-building agenda and may strengthen the idea that hosting a mega-event such as London 2012 could lead to the reproduction of inequality in the local labour markets of host cities.