"You know we are not an Employment Agency": Manpower, Government, and the Development of the Temporary Help Industry in Britain

2008 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 337-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Forde
Keyword(s):  
Employment Agency ◽  
Temporary Help ◽  
Temporary Help Industry

“You know we are not an Employment Agency”: Manpower, Government, and the Development of the Temporary Help Industry in Britain

2008 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 337-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Forde
Keyword(s):  
Trade Unions ◽  
Temporary Workers ◽  
Employment Agency ◽  
Adequate Understanding ◽  
State Employment ◽  
Temporary Help ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Exchange Network ◽  
Temporary Help Industry

This article looks at the early development of the temporary help industry in Britain. It focuses on the activities of one of the largest suppliers of temporary workers, Manpower, in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Drawing on material from The UK National Archives, the article examines Manpower's efforts to gain access as a genuine employer to the state employment exchange network to advertise their temporary vacancies. The article reveals the incremental changes in attitude within the government towards Manpower's activities and argues that this gave the company a competitive advantage over other employment agencies, facilitating their development of relations with the government and the trade unions in Britain over the 1970s and 1980s. The main conclusion of the article is that explicit attention needs to be paid to the actions and strategies of agencies themselves in order to develop an adequate understanding of the growth and development of the temporary help industry.

The Temporary Help Industry: A Response to the Dual Internal Labor Market

ILR Review ◽  
1985 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 599 ◽  
Author(s):  
Garth Mangum ◽  
Donald Mayall ◽  
Kristin Nelson
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Internal Labor Market ◽  
Temporary Help ◽  
Temporary Help Industry

Pathways to work for low-income workers: The effect of work in the temporary help industry

2003 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 581-598 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Lane ◽  
Kelly S. Mikelson ◽  
Pat Sharkey ◽  
Doug Wissoker
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Temporary Help ◽  
Temporary Help Industry

CALCULATING EEO STATISTICS IN THE TEMPORARY HELP INDUSTRY

1996 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 167-180
Author(s):  
ANN MARIE RYAN ◽  
MARK J. SCHMIT
Keyword(s):  
Temporary Help ◽  
Temporary Help Industry
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