Satisfaction Levels Amongst Temporary Agency Workers
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Satisfaction levels amongst temporary agency workers. A review of the literature for the Recruitment and Employment Confederation. Dr David Biggs CPsychol University of Gloucestershire Francis Close Hall Swindon Road Cheltenham Gloucestershire GL50 4AZ Satisfaction levels amongst temporary agency workers: A literature Review Table of contents Executive Summary............................................................................ 1 Introduction..................................................................................... 2 The Rise of the Employment Agency Industry............................................. 3 Agency Workers: Who they are .............................................................. 7 Agency workers: their job satisfaction ....................................................13 Challenges facing the industry..............................................................20 References .....................................................................................23 This literature review has been produced as part of a wider research project funded by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC). The opinions expressed within this report are independent of the REC and are not necessarily shared by the REC, its employees or the Recruitment Agency Industry. Special thanks go to Roger Tweedy of the REC for providing industry-based data and to Carmel Biggs of teambuildco for her thorough review. Total Word Count: 14,632 REC literature review i Satisfaction levels amongst temporary agency workers: A literature Review Executive Summary This review specifically considers a wide variety of publications that have examined agency workers and the employment agency industry. The review initially investigates the phenomenonal increase of the industry over the last two decades. It suggests that the primary reason for this increase was the employers’ increasing need to have a flexible workforce. It also demonstrates how agency workers are used to supplement the permanent workforce rather than replace it. This is an important feature of the industry and suggests that it may be key in tackling unemployment. The demographics of the industry are next investigated. Interestingly, there is an alarming difference in the overall numbers of temporary workers reported through different secondary sources of information. This is a matter for concern as many commentators rely heavily on large Government surveys, such as the Labour Force Survey, that may underestimate the number of agency workers in the workforce. The review reports on other demographic variables such as: gender; age; gender and age combined; hourly rates; voluntary and involuntary take-up of agency work; education and ethnicity. This review provides us with an insight into the types of individuals that may take up agency work. Many are young and are twice as likely to come from an ethnic minority compared with permanent workers. A third of all agency workers also report that they do not wish to have permanent employment. Agency worker job satisfaction is investigated in a thorough review of the existing literature. Factors such as working relations, voluntary/involuntary employment and job security are found to be important antecedents to agency worker job satisfaction. Differences between the job satisfaction of agency workers and their permanent worker counterparts are discussed with research showing quite a variety of results. Some research has shown that temporary workers have a higher level of job satisfaction than permanent workers and other studies have shown the reverse. This clearly indicates that there is a need for further research to be completed in this area. Current trends in agency worker employment and the impact of the European Parliament’s Agency Worker Directive are also investigated through the academic literature. Concern was raised on the heavy reliance on secondary data sources as this data may not be wholly accurate and could lead to a misrepresentation of the industry. Further research into agency workers and the related industry is suggested and promoted. REC literature review 1 Satisfaction levels amongst temporary agency workers: A literature Review Introduction The Employment Agency Industry and the people they employ, entitled “agency workers” or “temps”, as they are known in popular language, appear to be a part of modern life, performing a wide range of jobs ranging from secretarial support, locums, office administration, through to interim management. Indeed, the turnover of this industry has grown dramatically and is estimated to be approximately £22,810 million in 2003/2004 by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC). Agency workers are therefore a considerable part of modern society performing a wide range of jobs and contributing to UK industry. This report is then structured into the following sections. The Rise of the Industry The rise of the Employment Agency Industry has been well documented and this review initially charts this unprecedented rise during the 80’s, 90’s and early 21st Century. Economic and social factors that have contributed to this phenomenon are discussed and the benefits of the Employment Agency Industry to the economy and to society at large are detailed. Agency Workers: Who The different types of temporary work are highlighted with special they are consideration given to agency workers. The different types of individuals that are attracted to agency work and some of the demographic data about agency workers from both the UK and US are presented. Advantages and disadvantages of agency employment from an individual’s perspective are explored. This analysis reveals that agency work has some real advantages to traditionally considered disadvantaged groups such as working mothers and students that find it difficult to juggle their responsibilities and a full time permanent job. It also debunks the myth that agency work is not an employment contract of choice as many individuals voluntarily work in this situation and would refuse permanent employment. Agency Workers: their A critical review of publications examining agency worker job job satisfaction satisfaction is conducted. Factors such as working relations, voluntary/involuntary employment and job security leading to positive reports of job satisfaction in agency workers are also discussed. Differences between the job satisfaction of agency workers and their permanent worker counterparts are highlighted and methodological problems with this research outlined. Challenges facing the The challenges that face the Employment Agency Industry over industry the next few years are detailed. Current trends in agency worker employment and the impact of the European Parliament’s Agency Worker directive are also investigated. Further areas of research are suggested. REC literature review 2 Satisfaction levels amongst temporary agency workers: A literature Review The Rise of the Employment Agency Industry Employment agencies and agency workers are not a recent phenomenon, with their origins dating back to the eighteenth century (Storrie, 2002). During this time, the precursors to agency workers were supplied as domestic servants and ancillary staff for a third party employer, usually a wealthy household (McCrum and Sturgis, 2000). In contrast, in the 21st Century, temporary workers, of which agency workers are a particular type, are used for many different roles from filing through to nursing and interim management. This review specifically examines the agency worker and examines the rise of this type of employment. Increased employer need Casey (1988) examined the extent of temporary workers in for temporary workers modern businesses using the workplace industrial relations survey (WIRS) carried out between 1980 and 1984. He concluded that approximately one in five organisations used temporary workers. However, by 1987 this had grown to just under 50% of employers (McGregor and Sproull, 1992). In 1998, it was discovered that 61% of employers used agency workers, with the possibility that a larger number increasing on this figure used temporary workers in general (Cully, Woodland, O’Reilly, and Dix, 1999). The need to have a flexible workforce has been cited as a primary reason for the increased use of temporary workers (Atkinson, Rick, Morris, and Williams, 1996; Cully et al, 1999; Houseman, Kalleberg, and Erickcek, 2003; McGregor and Sproull, 1992; McKinsey and Company, 2000). Other reasons cited include recruitment (Engellandt and Riphahn, 2005); subcontracting human resource functions to employment agencies (Purcell, Purcell, and Tailby, 2004); gaining time to recruit appropriate permanent workers (Houseman, et al., 2003) and avoiding redundancy costs (Allan, 2002). Golden and Appelbaum (1992) examined temporary work in the US and the economic factors against the rise of this type of employment in the 1982-88 period. Both demand and supply issues were examined in detail by the authors using economic equations. They concluded that it was the demand for temporary workers by organizations in the economy rather than the supply of individuals wanting to complete this type of work that caused the upsurge in the employment of temporary workers. In the UK, the employment of temporary workers increased dramatically in the 1980’s and 1990’s (Biggs, Burchell and Millmore, In Press). The employment of agency workers has also followed this general increase as shown via the reported turnover from the industry (See Table A). REC literature review