Scribd
Upload
298 views

Growing Use of Temporary and Contingent Workers

The document discusses the growing use of temporary and contingent workers by companies. It outlines several factors that prompt companies' use of temporary workers, such as adapting to fluctuating workloads and avoiding overtime pay. The largest categories of temporary workers are administrative support/clerical roles and industrial help workers. While temporary work provides benefits like flexibility for workers, it also limits benefits and job security compared to permanent roles.

Uploaded by

sajid bhatti
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
298 views

Growing Use of Temporary and Contingent Workers

The document discusses the growing use of temporary and contingent workers by companies. It outlines several factors that prompt companies' use of temporary workers, such as adapting to fluctuating workloads and avoiding overtime pay. The largest categories of temporary workers are administrative support/clerical roles and industrial help workers. While temporary work provides benefits like flexibility for workers, it also limits benefits and job security compared to permanent roles.

Uploaded by

sajid bhatti
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

Growing Use of Temporary and Contingent Workers

Another important human resource issue is the increasing use of


temporary or contingent workers. Temporary employees are often
used to provide a buffer of protection for the jobs of the core of
permanent employees. Further, the use of such workers is
increasing, and there is likely to be additional unbundling in the
future. In contrast to core employees, contingent workers have
short-term affiliations with employers. Examples include
temporaries, subcontracted workers, part-time workers,
consultants, life-of-the-project workers, and leased employees.
Companies also are using more “leased” employees who are
“rented” from a temporary help agency on a long-term basis. Not
surprisingly, unions typically resist the use of temporary workers.
Although there is growing use of higher-skilled temporary
employees, the largest category of temporaries is still
administrative support or clerical work. The second largest
category is industrial help workers such as laborers, equipment
cleaners, helpers, and handlers. Because demand for such
industrial help workers is cyclical and seasonal, the advantages to
the employer are obvious. Temporary workers are even being
used in the health care industry as registered nurses, practical
nurses, and x-ray technicians.
Temporary workers now include accountants, computer
specialists, engineering personnel, financial executives, and
technical writers. In information systems, temporary management
services are being used for project management, installation of
new systems, or during transition periods. Temporary
management personnel and executives are sometimes early
retirees from major computer companies or managers displaced
as a result of restructuring.
Factors Prompting Use of Temporary or Contingent
Employees

 Cost effective/saving
 Reduce paperwork
 Adaptability during peak demand
 Flexibility
 No need for recruiting
 Already Trained
 work burden reduce
 avoid to pay overtime
 talented employee
 innovate faster

A number of factors encourage the use of temporary or contingent


employees. Because of economic uncertainty or turbulence, many
employers are reluctant to hire permanent employees and have
increased their use of contingent employees. Another factor is
fluctuating workloads. A client of Atlanta-based Norrell
Corporation provides an example of adaptation to such
fluctuations. The client organization has only 50 employees, while
Norrell supplies it with 450 temporaries. Because the client needs
most employees for only a seven-month cycle, it uses
temporaries. Previously, the organization had 400 full-time
employees and was overstaffed part of the time and understaffed
the rest of the time. Companies also can avoid paying overtime
pay by using temporaries during peak demand periods. Growing
and declining companies have been found to use more temporary
employees. The use of temporaries who can be dismissed on
short notice allows these companies to protect the core of
permanent employees. Nonetheless, in tight labor markets, it may
be difficult to obtain qualified temporary employees.
Other factors prompting the use of contingent workers include
avoidance of recruiting, hiring, and training expenses for workers
who are to be used only a short time and avoidance of severance
costs. The perverse effects of legislation also may have prompted
the use of temporaries in some instances. For example, the
Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN),
which was designed to provide advance notice of plant shutdowns
to full-time employees, may encourage the use of temporary
workers. Other advantages for employers in the use of such
workers include flexibility, potential savings in labor costs, and
acquiring labor needed during hiring freezes.124
In addition to benefits for employers, there are some benefits for
temporary or contingent workers. These benefits include the
flexibility to match lifestyle and family obligations with work and
the ease of finding a job. For women, who constitute
approximately two-thirds of the temporary workforce, the benefits
also include exposure in the job market, opportunities to obtain
work experience and work skills, and the opportunity to sample
employment situations. Opportunities to reacquire work skills and
confidence may have appeal for women who have withdrawn
from the labor force for substantial lengths of time. Youthful
workers also may be attracted by temporary work as opportunities
to gain work experience.125
Factors Limiting the Use of Temporary or Contingent
Employees

 Lack of employment security


 Limited benefits
 Lack of skill or knowledge
 No control over work
 Communication challenges
 Different work approach
 Lack of commitment and motivation
 Loss of employee loyalty
 Providing training/ cost of training

Although there are several advantages for employers in using


temporary employees, there are also disadvantages. One
disadvantage is the increased likelihood of missing affirmative
action goals. Employers may not obtain desired numbers of
female and minority employees in their permanent workforce if
they curtail hiring and rely extensively on temporary workers.
Another disadvantage is the need to train such workers. With
temporary executives, disadvantages may include inordinate
emphasis on short-term financial performance and absence of
company loyalty. Disadvantages for temporary employees include
lower opportunities to receive health insurance and retirement
benefits, lower pay, and fewer training and educational
opportunities. However, temporaries frequently have benefit
coverage from spouses’ employment.126

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy