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Temporary Work Agencies in Italy pp 9–30Cite as

Employment Agency and Temporary Work Agency

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Abstract

The following chapter aims to introduce the analysis of the research that has been carried out on temporary employment, agency work and the role of employment agencies in Italy and in the world. It should be emphasized that the scientific community is displaying increasing interest in the issue. From this perspective, the studies we present represent tangible evidence of the increasing role of this industry within the Italian and the international economic system. Firstly, the chapter provides an exhaustive definition of employment agencies, secondly it aims to present an overview of the main researches and studies carried out. These aim at analyzing causes and motives of the growth of the sector in the world and we divide them into those following a mainstream approach and those that criticize this dominant approach.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Outsourcing has recently been recognized in several important Mediterranean countries in Europe and, in particular, in Spain in 1994, in Italy in 1996 and in Greece in 1998.

  2. 2.

    ILO (1996).

  3. 3.

    Four sub-types can be identified among these operators: (1) voluntary associations; (2) placement offices in universities and training colleges/institutions; (3) professional and student organizations; (4) trade unions.

  4. 4.

    There are numerous firms made up of individual professionals (such as the agents that provide assistance to professional footballers); however, it is important to take account of the presence of larger firms (a striking case, again in the world of professional football, is Gea Word which represents the interests of numerous footballers and managers/coaches).

  5. 5.

    Temporary work agencies and staff leasing agencies in Europe are generally known as Temporary Work Agencies.

  6. 6.

    In a study commissioned by Ecorys-Nei, Ciett (International Confederation of Temporary Work Businesses) defines the Private employment agency (as) any natural or legal entity that provides labor-market services consisting of employing workers with a view to making them available to a third party (a user firm), which assigns a certain part of its tasks and supervises the execution of these tasks by the agency worker. in Nei (2002), “Rationale of Agency Work. European labour suppliers and demanders’ motives to engage in agency work”, Ciett, Brussels.

  7. 7.

    In particular, the European Union, with the Green Paper “Partnership for a New Organization of Work” Commission of the European Communities, COM (97) 128 final, has encouraged comparative studies of the sector.

  8. 8.

    The European and American specialist literature have used different terms to refer to the “new” forms of employment: some authors use the term “contingent employment”, others refer to “forms of flexible employment” or “forms of alternative employment”, others to forms of labour outsourcing, precarious employment or “forms of temporary employment”. For a critical analysis of the terminology used to define alternative forms of employment to permanent employment, cf. Bergstrom and Storrie (2003). This study will use the term “new” forms of employment. The term “new” is used metaphorically (given that over ten years have gone by since the last piece of legislation regulating employment passed in 2003) to refer to the fact that they are alternatives to standard forms, hence the use of inverted commas.

  9. 9.

    Recruitment and selection do not represent the sole activity that the organization may decide to outsource to the employment agency. Another activity that firms generally entrust to agencies, due to their lack of experience, is outplacement. This consists in helping firms to provide support for staff facing redundancy in order to find other forms of employment. Lastly, there are agencies that offer to manage staff administration procedures on behalf of firms; this practice is highly developed among small firms which delegate all activities to specialists but is beginning to become more established in medium-sized firms and large companies.

  10. 10.

    The niche analyzed by the authors regards healthcare professionals in the UK. In this sector of the labor market, the demand for staff is far greater than the supply. This suggests that, despite efforts to internalize professionals, organizations sometimes do not succeed due to the unwillingness of these workers to accept permanent employment instead of temporary employment). For more in-depth analysis, see: Purcell et al. (2003).

  11. 11.

    Albert and Bradley have done a comparative study which shows that women who carry out book-keeping tasks through employment agencies show a higher ability to control their own lives compared to women who work with a permanent employment contract in consultancies. For a more in-depth analysis, see: Albert and Bradley (1998).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, Management and Institutions, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy

    Stefano Consiglio

  2. Parthenope University of Naples, Naples, Italy

    Luigi Moschera

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  1. Stefano Consiglio
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Correspondence to Stefano Consiglio .

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Consiglio, S., Moschera, L. (2016). Employment Agency and Temporary Work Agency. In: Temporary Work Agencies in Italy. SpringerBriefs in Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44541-0_2

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