Use Of Temporary Workers Research Articles

The role of outsourcing in the mechanism of economic security activities of cluster formations

The article considers the concept of “outsourcing”, “economic safety’, “cluster formation”. Outsourcing is defined as external influences that contribute to the effective operation of the enterprise. The economic essence of in the research and domestic practice, which has hitherto manifested itself only as a method of attracting temporary workers in the field. On the example of the dairy industry is studied safe operation as sustainable, and competitive Bozrikova their behavior with regard to outsourcing. Studied the differences of the processes of cooperation, subcontracting and clustering. Stated that cooperation and subcontracting are the component parts outsourcing, which covers the process of production or provision of services; the outsourcing justifies: the transfer of technical functions or business processes, and thus part of the risks transferred to the outsourcing provider. An example of adaptive modeling outsourcing, suggesting that in the future, the projected volume of production, processing and sales of dairy products manufactured by the enterprises of dairy industry of the Voronezh region belonging to a cluster will be reduced through the introduction of a mechanism of outsourcing. It proves that the risk of bankruptcy of enterprises on the basis of adaptive models. The application of the mechanism of outsourcing in order to increase the economic security, in particular, such of its functions as the transmission of external organizations not only certain social functions (such as the use of temporary workers), but also the activities of the business processes to optimize all kinds of resources and concentration of efforts on the core activities of each company within the cluster APK. Analysis conducted by the authors suggests: in the future, the projected volume of production, processing and sales of dairy products manufactured by the enterprises of agriculture, dairy production and trade of the Voronezh region belonging to a cluster can be reduced.

The Impact of Temporary Staffing Agency Employment (TSAE) on Employee Performance in China

The increasing use of tem porary workers (dispatched labour) has become contentious in China since the implementation of China’s Labour Contract Law in 2008. Supporters of the Temporary Staffing Agency Employment (TSAE) industry in China, consider it as a cost - cutting, human resour ce - management tool for solving unemployment whiles its critics consider the industry as a means for companies to make workers more “flexible” with less protection. This study uses individual level analysis to assess the impact of the human factors (commitme nt to firm and agency, job security, job satisfaction and job stress) on the overall performance or output of dispatched or temporary workers in Temporary Staffing Agencies Employment (TSAE) in China. The study finds a statistically significant positive re lation between job security and performance, commitment to Firm

Temporary Employment, Demand Volatility and Unions: Firm-Level Evidence

This paper investigates the effect of workplace unionization and product market volatility on firms' propensity to use temporary employment. Using Italian firm level data, we show that unionization and volatility have a positive impact on the share of temporary contracts. However, as volatility increases the union effect becomes negative, suggesting that in a highly volatile economic environment unions may be concerned about the weakening of their bargaining power associated with an extensive use of temporary workers. Furthermore, these effects are at work only for the use of non-training temporary contracts, while training temporary contracts are not affected by unions, volatility and their interplay. We argue that this occurs because non-training temporary contracts can be used by firms as a buffer stock to cope with uncertainty and by unions to protect insiders, while training temporary contracts are more likely to be used as a screening device for future permanent positions.

Externalizing, Internalizing and Fostering Commitment: The Case of Born-Global Firms in Emerging Economies

This paper examines the HR practices of mature born-global firms from 29 emerging economies. Through an examination of large scale survey data the paper questions the extent to which firm size impacts the employment of temporary workers, the employment of skilled workers and the extent of employee training. Findings suggest that as firm size increases the use of temporary workers decreases, the number of skilled workers increases and the number of employees receiving training also increases. The paper highlights how born-global firms are able to shift away from externalized, market-based approaches towards more internalized, commitment-based approaches in order to survive, adapt and grow.

Manufacturing Plants' Use of Temporary Workers: An Analysis Using Census Microdata

Using plant‐level data from the plant capacity utilization survey, we explore how manufacturing plants' use of temporary workers is associated with the nature of their output fluctuations and other plant characteristics. We find that plants tend to use temporary workers when their output is expected to fall; this may indicate that firms use temporary workers to reduce costs associated with dismissing permanent employees. In addition, we find that plants whose future output levels are subject to greater uncertainty tend to use more temporary workers. We also examine the effects of wage and benefit levels for permanent workers, unionization rates, turnover rates, seasonal factors, and plant size and age on the use of temporary workers; based on our results, we discuss various views of why firms use temporary workers.

Alternative uses of temporary work and new forms of work organisation

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the use of temporary workers and the adoption of new forms of work organisation (NFWO) in production. This study aims to understand to what extent these two forms of human resources flexibility are synergic or mutually exclusive. In order to answer this main goal, we discuss different levels of temporary workers adoption in relation to different levels of use of NFWO, the level of integration of temporary workers within the overall production organisation and the joint and synergistic use of NFWO and temporary work. Evidence drawn from seven case studies in manufacturing plants in northern Italy is provided. Results highlight that, according to the characteristics of the production process, temporary workers and NFWO are not mutually exclusive, that temporary workers can be integrated with other workers in the shop floor, and that NFWO can also be adopted for temporary workers. In addition, NFWO has been proven to be a key enabler to integrate temporary workers within the organisation, thus showing an important synergistic effect between the two human resource flexibility practices.

Labor market rigidities and economic efficiency: Evidence from Spain

In the 1990s, Spain approved two labor reforms aimed at reducing the unemployment level and its volatility. Overall, these reforms involved two measures designed to induce firms to meet their labor needs via adjustment of permanent positions: restricting the use of temporary workers and reducing the amount of severance payments. This paper empirically assesses the impact of these reforms on the allocative efficiency of the labor input employing Petrin and Sivadasan's (2011) value of the marginal product-marginal cost gap methodology. We find a statistically significant increase in within-firm permanent labor gaps following the reforms. These results suggest that restrictions on the use of temporary workers (increasing the probability of hiring fragile workers for permanent positions), when coupled with uncertainty about enforcement of reduced severance payments, could more than offset the reduction in severance payments; hence, the net effect of the reforms could be to increase adjustment costs for permanent positions.

Training ‘expendable’ workers: temporary foreign workers in nursing

The purpose of this article is to explore the experiences of Temporary Foreign Workers in health care in Alberta, Canada. In 2007–2008, one of the regional health authorities in the province responded to a shortage of workers by recruiting 510 health-care workers internationally; most were trained as Registered Nurses (RNs) in the Philippines. However, the Association of RNs required them to complete an assessment, and in many cases, to complete further training leading to an examination before they could actually work as RNs in the province. Furthermore, economic recession and restructuring of the health authority meant that many of the short-term contracts were not renewed, despite initial promises made by recruiters. This article looks at the assessment of foreign credentials and processes that followed as a part of the vocational education and training system that is often ignored. Drawing on social closure theories, we look at the experiences of foreign workers whose positions are extremely precarious in terms of employment and residency status. Our analysis suggests that the use of temporary workers to address ‘short term’ labour demand has implications for the workers themselves as well as larger political, social and economic implications that need to be acknowledged.

Combined effect of human capital, temporary employment and organizational size on firm performance

– This study aims to examine how temporary employment and organizational size moderate the effect of human capital on firm performance. The authors also analyze the overall effect of human capital, temporary contracts and organizational size on firm performance. This enables them to identify which combination of these three variables leads to the highest levels of profitability., – From a sample of 1,403 Spanish firms, the authors carry out a comparative analysis of the impact of human capital on labor productivity and return on sales among small and large companies with high and low use of temporary employment., – The positive effect of human capital on return of sales is greater in large firms with low temporary employment than in small firms with high temporary employment. In addition, this positive effect is not universal because in some scenarios it is not significant. The most beneficial context is that of large companies with a high level of human capital and a low use of temporary employment., – The results should be interpreted within the Spanish manufacturing sector., – Decisions about investment in human capital and the use of temporary workers should be taken jointly by personnel managers, in accordance with the size of the firm. If this holistic view is ignored, a full understanding of the impact of human capital on firm performance will be obscured. On the other hand, a common feature that large and small firms share is an incompatibility between human capital and temporary employment., – Growing interest has been shown in the degree to which investment in human capital contributes to firm performance; yet limited research attention has been paid to the contextual conditions that moderate this relationship. Investment in human capital can be more beneficial in some scenarios than in others.

Trade, Labour Institutions and Flexibility in Indian Manufacturing

There has been increasing ‘flexibilisation,’ in the formal labour markets of both developed and developing countries. Labour institutions and globalisation are often taken to be causally related to this phenomenon, but the evidence remains inconclusive. In India, there has been an increasing use of temporary workers employed through contractors (contract workers), who are not represented by trade unions and who do not fall under the purview of the labour laws that are applicable to directly employed workers (formal workers) in formal labour markets. We develop a model of labour demand where firms choose a mix of contract workers and formal workers, rather than formal workers alone. Then we test the model using state-industry-year panel data for Indian manufacturing from 1998 to 2005. We find that both pro-worker labour institutions and increased import penetration lead to greater use of contract labour in Indian manufacturing.

Optimal assignment and scheduling of workers and tasks on an assembly line

In this paper the assignment of cross-trained and temporary workers to tasks on an assembly line is investigated. Cross-trained workers are skilled to perform more than one task on the assembly line in the production process. Temporary workers are viewed as either trained or untrained and may be hired or laid off as required. The solution procedure may be divided into three parts. During the first part a model is formulated to determine an optimal assignment of the workers to the production tasks. During the second part the model is extended to determine the effect of the assignment of both trained and untrained temporary workers to the tasks on the assembly line. During the final part of the model an optimal sequence of tasks in the assembly line is determined that minimises the resulting execution times of these tasks. During the first part the objective is to maximise the total production utility. This is achieved by implementing a two-phase model. The first phase maximises the utility of pro-duction by minimising labour shortage in the assembly line. During the second phase the improvement of the workers’ levels of skill is maximised while the effect of the learning and forgetting of skills is taken into consideration. A learn-forget-curve model (LFCM) is implemented to model the effect of this human characteristic on the master model. This approach ensures that the advantageous cross-trained nature of the workers is maintained and optimized, without a large deviation from the solution determined by the first phase. The objective of the second part is to minimise the labour cost of production by determin-ing the best type of workers for a certain task as well as the manner in which they should be hired or laid off. A worker is classified as either permanently or temporarily employed. Tem-porarily employed workers are further classified as either untrained or cross-trained workers. The assignment of workers to tasks on the assembly line is achieved by means of a Master Production Scheduling (MPS) model. The MPS has as its objective the minimisation of the total labour cost of performing all the tasks. The labour cost is defined as the sum of the temporary workers’ daily wages, the overtime cost of permanent workers, the overtime cost of temporary workers and the cost of employing and laying off temporary workers. Finally, during the third part an optimal sequence of tasks is determined in the production process in order to minimise the total production time. This is achieved by means of a two-phase dynamic assembly line balancing model, which is adjusted to incorporate the critical path method. During the first phase, an optimal task sequence is determined, while during the second phase, an optimal assignment of tasks to workstations and the timing thereof, is determined. The practical applicability of the model is demonstrated by means of a real life case study. The production of various styles of shoes in a leatherworks factory is considered. The production of each style requires a different set of tasks and each task requires a different level of skill. The factory under consideration employs both cross-trained and temporary workers and data sets were obtained empirically by observation, interviews and questionnaires. Upon execution of the first phase of the assignment model, an optimal utility is found and the second phase is able to maximise the increase of the workers’ skill level without deviation from this optimum. Upon execution of the employment model, it is found that labour costs are minimized by increasing the use of temporary workers and by assigning the maximum allowable number of overtime hours to them. Upon application of the scheduling model, an improved time is obtained compared to the standard execution time of each style. The results obtained from the case study indicate that the application of the model presented in this paper shows a substantial improvement in production, while reducing the cost of labour as well as improving the overall level of workers’ skills. A multi-objective model is thus developed which successfully maximises production utility, maximises skill development of workers, minimises labour costs and the occurrence of idle workers as well as minimises total execution time.

The Contingent Employment In the Italian Healthcare Sector - Advantages and Troubles of the Human Resource Diversity Management

The firms use a quantity of variables to face their need of flexibility, as for the human resources, there is a continuous huge resort to new temporary contracts, including both LDC – limited duration contracts and TAWs – temporary agency works, which differ from the long-term and permanent employment model (Barker and Christensen, 1998; Volberda, 1999; Costa, 2001; Bergstrom and Storrie, 2003).In Italy, the contingent employment phenomenon (in particular TAWs) is well expressed in the healthcare sector and it is widely spread among many qualified professionals, first of all the nursing staff.In the healthcare sector, contextually to the flexibility need, the organizations find the necessity to have a good health service quality and to equip themselves with motivated, self-contained, high skilled and high committed workers, who feels a strong identification with the organization. However, those necessities, such as the contingent work spreading and the HR valorization, hardly match together and involve a different approach to the HR management. In fact, the massive use of temporary workers implicate an increasing complexity for the healthcare organizations, that have to deal with several types of workers in the same work groups or in the same professional categories. Moreover, the different contractual status may seriously affect the workers behavior as well as the employment relationships and their performances.In Italy, isolated experiences apart, there are no useful results or well-founded experiences to study that phenomenon and to give evidence to the actuality of it, especially in the healthcare sector. In the light of these assumptions, we assume the main challenge that healthcare organizations are going to face is defining a set of diversified and integrated HR management policies. In other words, HR managers will have to develop and define operational HR choices focused on the valorization of the differences, specifically applying the Diversity Management (DM) and working on the idea that their employees are no more the permanent ones (Lorbiecki and Jack, 2000; Barabino, Jacobs and Maggio, 2000, 2001).This study arises as a working paper issued by early literature analysis and early opinions about the contingent employment and the HR management in the healthcare sector, which is the subject of the research carried out by the two authors in their Phd careers.

Overstretched and Unreciprocated Commitment: Reviewing Research on the Occupational Health and Safety Effects of Downsizing and Job Insecurity

Over the past two decades, a leading business practice has been often-repeated rounds of downsizing and restructuring (also referred to as reorganization, re-engineering, and a host of other euphemistic terms) by large private and public sector employers. Frequently associated with other practices such as outsourcing, privatization, and the increased use of temporary workers, downsizing/restructuring has increased the level of job insecurity among workers as well as leading to changes in work processes (including work intensification and multi-tasking) and management behavior. How has downsizing/restructuring and increased job insecurity affected the occupational health, safety, and well-being of workers, and what measures have employers, unions, and governments taken to address any adverse effects? The authors reviewed international studies of the occupational health and safety (OHS) effects of downsizing/restructuring and increased job insecurity undertaken over the past 20 years. After imposing quality filters, they obtained 86 studies. Analysis revealed that 73 (85%) of the studies found poorer OHS outcomes (using a range of measures). Studies were examined to see whether they provided clues as to the reasons for negative outcomes.

Manufacturing Plants' Use of Temporary Workers: An Analysis Using Census Micro Data

Using plant‐level data from the plant capacity utilization survey, we explore how manufacturing plants' use of temporary workers is associated with the nature of their output fluctuations and other plant characteristics. We find that plants tend to use temporary workers when their output is expected to fall; this may indicate that firms use temporary workers to reduce costs associated with dismissing permanent employees. In addition, we find that plants whose future output levels are subject to greater uncertainty tend to use more temporary workers. We also examine the effects of wage and benefit levels for permanent workers, unionization rates, turnover rates, seasonal factors, and plant size and age on the use of temporary workers; based on our results, we discuss various views of why firms use temporary workers.

Economic Globalization and Women's Employment: The Case of Manufacturing in Mexico

Sociological research has been generally critical of the effects of economic globalization on developing countries. However, greater worldwide economic integration may have created new employment opportunities for women. In this article, we examine the effect of foreign investment and export production on gender inequality in Mexico, a country that epitomizes the global shift to an open-market economic strategy. Using data from nationally representative surveys of manufacturing firms between 1992 and 2001, we find that foreign and export-oriented firms employ significantly more women at every occupational level than do nationally-owned firms producing goods for sale in the domestic market. The greater employment of women in foreign and export firms cannot be explained by these firms' higher demand for workers of lower skill levels, their size, capital intensity, production technology, wage level, use of temporary workers, or industry. Using managers' responses to survey questions regarding gender preferences in hiring, we find that managers in foreign-owned export firms have a preference for hiring women that cannot be explained by firm-level factors. This preference may account for the observed differences in female employment. Finally, using firms' payroll information to analyze the gender wage gap in manufacturing firms, we find that foreign-owned export firms discriminate against women less in terms of wages.

Effective use of temporary workers in small-medium scale academic library(<Special feature>Outsourcing at libraries)

Effective use of temporary workers in small-medium scale academic library(<Special feature>Outsourcing at libraries)

The Role of Job Security in Understanding the Relationship Between Employees' Perceptions of Temporary Workers and Employees' Performance.

On the basis of psychological contract and social cognition theories, the authors explored the role of full-time employees' perceived job security in explaining their reactions to the use of temporary workers by using a sample of 149 full-time employees who worked with temporaries. As hypothesized, employees' perceived job security negatively related to their perceptions that temporaries pose a threat to their jobs, but it did not relate to their perceptions that temporaries are beneficial. Furthermore, employees' job security moderated the relationships between benefit and threat perceptions and supervisor ratings of job performance. For those with high job security, there was a positive relationship between benefit perceptions and performance. For those with low job security, there was a negative relationship between threat perceptions and performance.

The use of flexible employment arrangements: some new evidence from Greek firms

The present study attempts an examination of the extent to which Greek firms use flexible employment arrangements, the kind of jobs in which they are used and the factors affecting their use. It concentrates on three types of flexible work: temporary workers, independent contractors and subcontractors. Drawing upon data from a sample of seventy-five companies, it identifies factors affecting: a) firm's decision to use flexible forms of work or not and b) the percentage of flexible workers used. Irini Voudouris, Athens University of Economics and Business, Department of Management Science and Technology, 76 Patission str, Athens 10434, Greece (e-mail: ivoudour@aueb.gr) The main findings indicate that different types of flexible worker are used by the same firm for the accomplishment of different kinds of job and are affected by different factors. Training costs and monitoring problems appear to be the most influential factors explaining the use of temporary workers, while low frequency of specialized tasks is the main factor affecting the use of independent contractors and often the recourse to subcontractors. Results from the Greek national context would add to existing evidence on this important issue.

Contingent and internal employment systems: Substitutes or complements?

Internal and contingent employment can be either substitutes or complements: Contingent workers are used either to replace the internal employment system or to complement it. These two perspectives are tested, and the relationship between them is explored. My findings strongly support the complementary perspective, as the practices usually associated with job security are positively associated with the use of temporary workers. Above all, internal practices play an important role in deciding to use contingent employees. My study emphasizes that the institutional employment structure cannot be overlooked when studying temporary employees.

Industrial productivity in China: the case of the food industry in Guangdong Province

This study presents empirical evidence on the effects of incentives on industrial productivity in China’s food industry. Data covering the 1990‐1996 period were collected from 30 food enterprises in Guangdong Province. The empirical results support the use of bonus schemes to motivate enterprises to achieve higher levels of productivity. Moreover, the study indicates an important variable affecting productivity: the proportion of temporary workers in the total labour force. It was found that flexibility in the use of temporary workers could produce a positive effect on enterprise productivity. This finding strongly supports the need for flexibility in employment policies. When compared to state‐owned and collective‐owned enterprises, their counterparts, e.g. foreign ventures and joint‐stock enterprises, were relatively more efficient in production.