Temporary Employment and Strategic Staffing in the Manufacturing Sector

Authors: VIDAL, MATT; TIGGES, LEANN M.

Source: Industrial Relations, Volume 48, Number 1, January 2009 , pp. 55-72(18)

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Abstract:

While prior research has identified different ways of using temporary workers to achieve numerical flexibility, quantitative analysis of temporary employment has been limited to a few key empirical indicators of demand variability that may confound important differences. Our analysis provides evidence that many manufacturers use temporary workers to achieve what we call planned and systematic numerical flexibility rather than simply in a reactive manner to deal with unexpected problems. Although temporary work may provide many benefits for employers, a key function appears to be the provision of numerical flexibility not to buffer core workers but to externalize certain jobs.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-232X.2008.00545.x

Affiliations: 1: University of California, Los Angeles; Department of Rural Sociology, University of Wisconsin

Publication date: 2009-01-01