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