Towards a research agenda on the sustainable and socially responsible management of agency workers through a flexicurity model of HRM

Mingqiong Mike Zhang, Timothy Bartram, Nicola McNeil, Peter John Dowling

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

30 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Agency work is one of the most rapidly growing forms of employment in leading economies over the past two decades, signifying a global shift towards non-standard flexible employment modes. The rapid growth of agency work has become one of the most notable global employment trends and is set to become a permanent feature of the modern workplace. The growth of agency employment raises a number of ethical challenges for governments and businesses. A key emerging challenge is to identify firm-level HRM strategies to effectively manage and protect agency employees. Based on an extensive review of the existing research on agency work, this article develops an organizational-level flexicurity model of HRM as a promising answer to effectively manage agency employees in responsible ways within the context of increasing employment flexibilization. This article also develops a research agenda, providing a platform to inform future research.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)513 - 523
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of Business Ethics
Volume127
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2015

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