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Explaining job insecurity for temporary agency workers: A comparison between Sweden and Belgium

Author

Listed:
  • Kristina HÃ¥kansson

    (University of Gothenburg, Sweden)

  • Valeria Pulignano

    (KU Leuven Centrum voor Sociologisch Onderzoek (Centre for Sociological Research), Belgium)

  • Tommy Isidorsson

    (University of Gothenburg, Sweden)

  • Nadja Doerflinger

    (KU Leuven, Belgium)

Abstract

Current research has shed critical light on the insecurity characterizing temporary agency work. To understand how this insecurity is produced, this article shows that we have to go beyond national and industrial regulation and analyse how this regulation shapes workplace practices and access to a collective voice. Thus, connecting the national and workplace levels is crucial in understanding job insecurity for agency workers. Job insecurity is shaped not only by the type of contract; it is primarily formed by how the national regulation, inclusive of collective bargaining and representation structures, shapes the modalities in accordance to which temporary agency workers are used at workplaces. The article is based on a cross-national comparative case study methodology, and compares two similar workplaces in two different institutional settings, those of Sweden and Belgium.

Suggested Citation

  • Kristina HÃ¥kansson & Valeria Pulignano & Tommy Isidorsson & Nadja Doerflinger, 2020. "Explaining job insecurity for temporary agency workers: A comparison between Sweden and Belgium," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 41(2), pages 254-275, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ecoind:v:41:y:2020:i:2:p:254-275
    DOI: 10.1177/0143831X17707824
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Nadja Doerflinger & Valeria Pulignano, 2015. "Temporary Agency Work and Trade Unions in Comparative Perspective," SAGE Open, , vol. 5(2), pages 21582440155, April.
    2. John Purcell & Kate Purcell & Stephanie Tailby, 2004. "Temporary Work Agencies: Here Today, Gone Tomorrow?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 42(4), pages 705-725, December.
    3. Chris Forde & Gary Slater, 2005. "Agency Working in Britain: Character, Consequences and Regulation," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 43(2), pages 249-271, June.
    4. Schmitter, Philippe C. & Streeck, Wolfgang, 1999. "The organization of business interests: Studying the associative action of business in advanced industrial societies," MPIfG Discussion Paper 99/1, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    5. Kristina Håkansson & Tommy Isidorsson, 2014. "The trade union response to agency labour in Sweden," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(1), pages 22-38, January.
    6. Valeria Pulignano & Andrea Signoretti, 2016. "Union Strategies, National Institutions and the Use of Temporary Labour in Italian and US Plants," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 54(3), pages 574-596, September.
    7. Kurt Vandaele, 2006. "A report from the homeland of the Ghent system: the relationship between unemployment and trade union membership in Belgium," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 12(4), pages 647-657, November.
    8. Hajo Holst & Oliver Nachtwey & Klaus Doerre, 2010. "The Strategic Use of Temporary Agency Work – Functional Change of a Non-standard Form of Employment," International Journal of Action Research, Rainer Hampp Verlag, vol. 6(1), pages 108-138.
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    Cited by:

    1. Mojca Svetek, 2022. "The promise of flexicurity: Can employment and income security mitigate the negative effects of job insecurity?," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 43(3), pages 1206-1235, August.
    2. Kabiru Oyetunde & Rea Prouska & Aidan Mckearney, 2026. "Workers’ resistance to managerial silencing: A comparative study of temporary agency and platform workers’ voice in a developing context," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 47(1), pages 218-244, February.
    3. Rajthilak R. & Swati Alok & Navya Kumar, 2023. "Freely Engaged: Volition and Work Engagement Among Temporary Agency Workers of the Indian IT Industry," FIIB Business Review, , vol. 12(3), pages 306-316, September.

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