Flexibility, Stability and Agency Work: A Comparison of the Use of Agency Work in Sweden and the UK

As both an old and a new phenomenon within the EU community, temporary agency work enjoyed a rapid increase during the 1990s. Among the 14 EU countries, in fact, only Greece, where work agencies were illegal until 2004, has shown no such increase (European Foundation 2005 a). Private work agencies were also illegal in Sweden, with minor exceptions, until a 1993 law legalized both private employment agencies and work agencies. The number of employees in temporary work agencies rose rapidly during the 1990s in Sweden and was estimated by the end of the decade to be 42,000. The UK, where temporary work agencies have existed for several decades, also witnessed a considerable increase in the number of agency workers in the 1990s. Although agency workers are increasing in numbers, a recent comparative study on agency work in Europe reveals that they comprise only 1 or 2 per cent of the labour market in most EU countries (Storrie 2002: 31). The impact of these small numbers on the labour market should not be underestimated, however; work organization in user firms has to be adjusted according to the use of agency workers, meaning that the use of a small number of agency workers affects many more employees.