Uncovering and Explaining Variance in the Features and Outcomes of Contingent Work

Existing research tends to depict contingent work either as having similar implications for firms and workers in all settings or as varying in its implications depending only on contingent workers' occupation or personal characteristics. In contrast, the author of this paper identifies systemat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Industrial & labor relations review 2002-10, Vol.56 (1), p.23-43
Main Author: Lautsch, Brenda A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cameras
Career Ladders
Contingent Employment
Contracts
Cost savings
Differences
Employment
Employment Practices
Group dynamics
Job training
Labor management relations
Labor Market
Labor markets
Management Styles
Management theory
Occupational Information
Organizational Structure
Productivity
Staffing
Studies
Temporary employment
Temporary labor
Theories
Wages
Work
Workers
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Summary:Existing research tends to depict contingent work either as having similar implications for firms and workers in all settings or as varying in its implications depending only on contingent workers' occupation or personal characteristics. In contrast, the author of this paper identifies systematic differences in contingent jobs across organizational contexts that are due to the strategies and practices of management. She uses internal labor market theory and data collected from two comparative case studies, both conducted in 1996-97, to develop four distinct models of how contingent work may be managed. Each of the contingent employment subsystems had distinct practices-related to job definitions, wage rules, and deployment through career ladders-put in place by management in response to technological factors and performance objectives. Each also raised challenges for integrating regular and contingent workers and generated trade-offs for both groups of workers as well as for the firm.
ISSN:0019-7939
2162-271X
DOI:10.1177/001979390205600102