Jobseekers and Gatekeepers: the Role of the Private Employment Agency in the Placement of the Unemployed

Abstract

This paper discusses two conflicting discourses about the role of temporary work agencies. Some labour market analysts argue that they mobilize the unemployed labour reserve to undercut established employees' pay and conditions, thus offering the unemployed worse opportunities than they could obtain through other channels. By contrast, current UK policy on the reintegration of the unemployed assumes that any job is better than no job and encourages them to use agencies as a job search channel. This tiny segment of the labour market demands our attention for its rapid growth and particular importance in the experience of those moving in and out of unemployment. This paper examines the paradox that whilst employers increasingly turn to agencies to reduce labour costs, agencies seek to maximize the value of the labour they sell, in some circumstances acting as `levellers' of pay and prospects for disadvantaged jobseekers. It then considers how the unemployed will be affected by the response of agency employment to the proposed European directive on temporary work.