Stable Flexibility – Long-term Strategic Use of Temporary Agency Workers in Sweden

Kristina Hakansson, Tommy Isidorsson and Hannes Kantelius

International Journal of Action Research, 2013, vol. 9, issue 3, 278-300

Abstract: The use of temporary agency workers is closely linked to the concept of numerical flexibility, entailing a need for additional staff in booms. However, previous research has also revealed a trend towards a more extensive and constant use of temporary agency workers. Even though the long-term use is not new, there is hardly any knowledge of how this transfer from short- to long-term use takes place. In this article, the exchange process between the temporary work agency and the user firm is scrutinised to explore and explain how the use of blue-collar temporary agency workers has become a long-term strategic use of the user firm’s staffing strategy.

Keywords: agency work; flexibility; flexible organization; labour market flexibility; staffing strategy; temporary agency workers; temporary work agency (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A14 J41 J53 J78 J83 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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