International Perspectives on Temporary Work

The rise of temporary work has been staggering in developed countries across the globe. The lower costs of employing temporary workers are clear to see, but what is the impact of this phenomenon on economies, and what is its impact on workers themselves?

These questions, amongst many others, are examined thoroughly for the first time in this book. The contributors to this volume consider the nature of temporary work, the status of the temporary worker and the multinational development of the temporary work sector from differing perspectives.

With an international group of expert contributors, and under the crack editorship of John Burgess and Julia Connell, this book has achieved an impressive feat--it is readable, breaks new ground and has implications for professionals across the world as well as being clear interest to economists and business students.

The numbers of workers employed on a temporary basis has grown massively over the last few decades. The benefits to firms of hiring workers on a temporary basis are clear and generally can be reduced to their cheaper short term cost. The status of workers employed in this manner however means that they are less likely to receive the same rights as their permanent working colleagues. This impressive new book provides the first serious analysis of temporary work and its effect on the economy as well as its ramifications for workers.

1. International Aspects of Temporary Agency Employment: An Overview 2. Cycles of Contingency: The Temporary Staffing Industry and Labour Market Adjustment in the U.S. 3. Temporary Agency Work in the EU: An Overview 4. Temporary Agency Labour in the UK 5. New Employment Patterns: Agencies and Agency Workers in the Netherlands and Denmark 6. Temporary Employment: The Situation in Canada 7. Agency Temporary Work and Government Policy in Contemporary Japan 8. Temporary Agency Work in Australia (Part I) 9. Temporary Agency Work in Australia (Part II): Motivation, Dynamics and Prospects 10. Agencies, Agency Workers and Atypical Employment in New Zealand

John Burgess is Associate Professor at the University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.Julia Connell is Associate Professor at the Graduate School of of Business at the University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.