Temporary Workforce Research Articles

La noción de trabajo en la construcción de la identidad: indígenas y criollos en el Pilcomayo salteño

Due to the claim to own the land made by indigenous communities from Chaco –mostly Wichi- bordering the Salta 's Pilcomayo , this analysis was aimed to consider the factors that have intervened in the construction of the indigenous identity, especially in opposition to the criollos occupying the same area. The latter, distributed according to a pattern of scattered settlements, engage in cattle grazing, while indigenous people develop subsistence activities, both the traditional ones, such as fishing in the river, hunting, gathering wild fruits and limited farming and those not so traditional, such as craftmanship to be sold, or temporary workforce. Such differences in the use of the forest have provoked conflicts for the land between the parties. Those disagreements have contributed to the construction of the indigenous identity, and the different views on the concept of labor held by both groups have a relevant place in such construction.

The Rural Batrachka (Hired Agricultural Laborer) and the Soviet Campaign to Unionize Her

This article explores the Soviet campaign in the mid-1920s to unionize the poorest women in rural villages: hired, agricultural laborers known as batrachkas. The goal was to make them literate, class-conscious workers who saw themselves not as peasants but as the vanguard of a rural proletariat. The mobilization movement met with little success--the majority of batrachkas remained outside the union--in part because the Soviet regime was ambivalent toward recruiting women and in part because it was ill-prepared materially to reach an often isolated and largely temporary work force. Moreover, the predominantly urban communists did not understand the needs or cultural assumptions of female agricultural laborers. Poor peasant women tended to rely on traditional village structures and were reluctant to risk losing the meager bene�ts they derived from the "bosses" by joining a union that seemed mainly to make promises.

An alternative look at temporary workers, their choices, and the growth in temporary employment

We examine temporary workers (temps), their choices, and growth in temporary employment. We find that some people choose a temporary job because they desire greater schedule flexibility, particularly students and women with children. For most, however, weaker permanent job opportunities drive them into temporary positions. Using the 1995 and 1997 Current Population Surveys (CPS) we find that both the percentage of the work force in temporary jobs and the absolute number of temps declined when applying a new CPS-based measure of temporary. This is in stark contrast to the rising percentage found in several previous studies when looking only at workers in personnel supply services and clearly questions prior claims and concerns about growth in the temporary work force.

Case studies of occupational health management in the engineering construction industry.

Construction workers are exposed to considerable hazards carrying a health risk, e.g., dusts, fumes, noise and manual handling, yet there is often poor occupational health service provision particularly for subcontracted labourers. This paper presents seven case studies from large, engineering construction organizations, concerning current practice in occupational health management. The results supported the fact that data and records regarding health-related absence were limited and inconsistent, and that little existed in terms of medicals and health surveillance, particularly in the case of subcontracted workers. The main difficulties envisaged were reported to be the sizeable costs involved; the temporary and mobile work force; demonstrating cost-benefits to top management and a lack of interest amongst workers, perhaps exacerbated by the threat of lost livelihood. Managers also admitted limited health expertise and knowledge of the wider role health professionals could play in health management. Training and further research in this area are indicated.

CALCULATING EEO STATISTICS IN THE TEMPORARY HELP INDUSTRY

The temporary workforce has experienced tremendous growth in the past decade. Given the number of individuals employed by temporary help firms, it is surprising that so little attention has been given to EEO issues in this industry. The calculation of flow statistics in the temporary help industry presents some unique concerns because of the multiple status states (e.g., active, placed) an individual might hold. Difficulties in calculating compliance figures are illustrated with data from one temporary services firm. Record keeping recommendations are detailed.

Managing temporary workers: A permanent HRM challenge

T hese recent quotes, the first from the president of the world’s largest temporary agency, the second from the country’s most vocal advocate of temporary-employees’ rights, highlight how entrenched temporary work has become in our economy. Indeed, 10 years ago, only 100 temporaryemployment agencies existed in this country, and only about 250,000 workers were temps; today, there are close to 1,500 temporary-help services and over 1.5 million temporary workers. Moreover, temporary employment is now a $20 billion a year business. In fact, between 1991 and 1993, more than 20 percent of all the new positions created in the U.S. economy were temporary jobs. Manpower, Inc. currently has a whopping 560,000 employees, deploying more than 100,000 of them each day. And, where the temporary workforce was once largely dominated by clerical help, today it includes large numbers of technical workers, nurses and medical personnel, hotel and restaurant workers, industrial laborers, and business executives and consultants as well.

Training for Office Skills

UK recruitment consultants Alfred Marks are setting up a nationwide chain of High Street Learning Centres with equipment and courseware supplied by ASI (UK) Ltd, one of the leading international multi‐media training companies. The first of these centres has been opened at their head office in London's Regent Street. The centres will incorporate the latest training technology in the form of Interactive Video Instruction (IVI). The training is intended to produce a new‐generation temporary workforce that will be more highly‐skilled and flexible than ever before. Comprehensive training in personal computing, behavioural skills and office practice will allow temporaries to play a more important role in the office environment, and could even offer a route into management.

Temporary Help— A Progressive Management Tool

A new breed of managers determined to optimise staffing levels as Britain emerges from the recession is leading to much greater utilisation of temporary help. Kelly Girl, the world's largest temporary help organisation, confident of the growth of this flexible workforce concept, are expanding their activities away from the traditional stronghold of secretaries and office workers, believing there is an increased demand for industrial workers (assemblers, packers) and for skilled factory workers as computer technology continues to impact on the factory floor. The benefits of a temporary workforce cannot be achieved without high‐calibre personnel who are sufficiently capable and flexible to adapt quickly to each new working environment. To this end Kelly Girl utilise the KEE simulator to evaluate skills of word processor operators, as well as providing training and cross‐training on a variety of different machines for the first time. There is definitely a shift of emphasis towards “permanent temporaries” — those choosing temping as a full‐time career.

Scientific Work in Yugoslavia on Migrant Returnees and Their Impact on the Mother Country

In the European division of labor, Yugoslavia is an important exporter of a temporary work force. Consequently, there are a number of scientific works about migrations in all parts of the country. Migration is usually divided into three parts: 1) the conditions of life before migration and the cause of migration; 2) life and work in the foreign country; and 3) the return to the mother country. Since the main waves of emigration started in the 1960s and since most of the emigrants prolonged their stay, the first two phases are worked out more completely than the final portion. The last phase, the return, is neither mass nor organized, so there are few works on the subject. The migrant services have some statistical evidence but the data are not exact as only about 50% of the returnees contact the migrant services upon their return to the mother country. The scientific analyses extant largely concern economics and the effects and possibilities of using foreign exchange in the Yugoslav economy. Demographic analyses compare the demographic characteris? tics of returnees with those of other migrants, or with the entire Yugoslav population. These, and all other analyses, particularly emphasize sugges? tions of measures which should be used in policies concerning the returnees. This is important because legislation in this field is poor and undeveloped. The first official document about returnees appeared in 1974.