ABSTRACT
When publicly debated in Sweden, temporary work agencies (TWAs) are often described as a relatively new phenomenon on the Swedish labour market. However, a historical perspective reveals that they are not new: Private employment agencies and staffing agencies existed in Sweden as long ago as the end of the nineteenth century. They were banned in 1935, partly due to the dramatic events surrounding the labour disputes in Ådalen in 1931. Almost 60 years later, on 1 July 1993, a new law was enacted that deregulated the private employment agency industry and made TWAs legal again, long after the development of TWA industries in most other Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. Since then, there has been stable and continuous growth in the industry. In 2012, the penetration rate of this industry in Sweden was 1.3 per cent of the working population, an increase of more than 150 per cent since 1998 (Bemanningsföretagen 2013). During recent years, expansion has been more rapid in traditional blue-collar sectors, for example, the manufacturing and construction industries, making manufacturing the single largest sector for purchasing placement services at a rate of 22 per cent (Ciett 2013). According to Ciett (2013), about 60 per cent of the workers employed in the Swedish TWA industry are women, with more than 45 per cent of these being under 30 and close to 80 per cent under 45. More than 45 per cent of workers have a higher education, whereas 90 per cent have an educational level equivalent to secondary education or higher. More than 60 per cent of assignments have a duration of more than six months. 1 It is thus a fairly stable industry with a predominantly female workforce, which is, relatively speaking, well educated and young.
