This blog has an editorial policy not to comment on the situation at individual companies. However, the news that BMW Mini has been forced to cut back shifts and release 850 agency workers has reopened the debate about the use of temporary employees.
The TUC have blogged on the issue raising concerns about what they see as the vulnerability of temporary workers. However, many agency workers, particularly, in our sector are highly-skilled, highly mobile and highly-paid; they often choose agency work because the rewards are higher or the lifestyle is a better fit to their circumstances. Moreover, many of us will know of people who have started out as temps, done a good job and then been taken on permanently. Thus agency work is often a gateway to full-time employment, particularly for young people, the long-term unemployed or those returning to the labour market.
For their part, companies use agency workers to respond quickly to changes in demand and for many that demand has, for reasons we all know, unfortunately dropped away. In this situation, many are therefore cutting back on their use of agency workers, which in turn could reduce the pressure to make permanent employees redundant.
When the EU Temporary Agency Workers Directive is implemented in the UK , agency workers will be entitled to receive, after 12 weeks, the same pay and basic conditions from their agency as equivalent permanent employees of the client company. This will inevitably increase the cost of using agency workers.
But we must not lose sight of the fact that agency work often suits both parties and is a key component of the UK's flexible labour market. Maintaining that flexibility will be crucial in helping us out of the current downturn.