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Precarious Footing: Temporary Employment as a Stepping Stone out of Unemployment in Sweden

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  • Tomas Korpi

    (Stockholm University)

  • Henrik Levin

    (Swedish National Board of Industrial and Technical Development)

Abstract

In the intense debate around questions related to labour market flexibility one of the contested issues has been the relationship between temporary work and unemployment. Temporary work has here been regarded either as a precursor to recurrent unemployment, or as an entry port to stable employment. Little is however known about actual mobility patterns, including whether or not temporary employment can act as a stepping stone out of unemployment. Using a sample of initially unemployed, this is here examined through an analysis of the relationship between temporary employment during a one-year observation period and employment and unemployment during a subsequent twelve-month long follow-up period. The results evince the great overall vulnerability of the unemployed, but also that the permanent and temporary jobs obtained by unemployed differ relatively little in the employment security they offer. This suggests that the type of employment contract is of minor importance for the long-term employment prospects of the unemployed. This holds for women as well as for men, contradicting some earlier conjectures about gender specific mobility patterns.

Suggested Citation

  • Tomas Korpi & Henrik Levin, 2001. "Precarious Footing: Temporary Employment as a Stepping Stone out of Unemployment in Sweden," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 15(1), pages 127-148, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:15:y:2001:i:1:p:127-148
    DOI: 10.1177/09500170122118805
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. McVicar, Duncan & Wooden, Mark & Fok, Yin King, 2017. "Contingent Employment and Labour Market Pathways: Bridge or Trap?," IZA Discussion Papers 10768, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. McGinnity, Frances & Mertens, Antje, 2002. "Fixed-term contracts in East and West Germany: Low wages, poor prospects?," SFB 373 Discussion Papers 2002,72, Humboldt University of Berlin, Interdisciplinary Research Project 373: Quantification and Simulation of Economic Processes.
    3. Dana-Ioana Eremia, 2015. "Changes in an age of mass higher education," Journal of Community Positive Practices, Catalactica NGO, issue 3, pages 70-81.
    4. Younga Kim, 2015. "Changes in Precarious Employment Among South Korean Women," Mathematical Population Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(2), pages 101-123, June.
    5. Lietzmann, Torsten & Schmelzer, Paul & Wiemers, Jürgen, 2017. "Marginal employment for welfare recipients: stepping stone or obstacle?," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 31(4), pages 394-414.
    6. Benjamin Hopkins & Chris Dawson, 2016. "Migrant workers and involuntary non-permanent jobs: agencies as new IR actors?," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(2), pages 163-180, March.
    7. Hielke Buddelmeyer & Mark Wooden, 2011. "Transitions Out of Casual Employment: The Australian Experience," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1), pages 109-130, January.
    8. Torsten Lietzmann & Paul Schmelzer & Jürgen Wiemers, 2017. "Marginal employment for welfare recipients: stepping stone or obstacle?," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 31(4), pages 394-414, December.
    9. Linda McDowell & Adina Batnitzky & Sarah Dyer, 2008. "Internationalization and the Spaces of Temporary Labour: The Global Assembly of a Local Workforce," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 46(4), pages 750-770, December.

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