Making them 'live on the edge' for the lifetime
Anurag Singal
Valuation | CAJobPortal.com | IIM Ahmedabad MBA, CA (AIR-22) | Independent Director l Visiting Faculty - IIMs, XLRI, MU l 3 x TEDx l YouTuber l Career Mentor
Good Afternoon
Wanted to touch upon the topic of Temp Staffing for blue collared workers in India Inc.
Over 2009-14, the staffing industry has grown at a CAGR of 20% to reach revenues of INR385b in 2014 and is expected to grow @ 19% over 2014-19.
Labor-related issues, both operational and compliance-specific as well as flexibility for corporates to 'downsize at will' has been the raison d'êtrefor the TeamLeases, and QuessCorps of the world.
Essentially under this arrangement, the security guard, the IT Support Engineer, the sweeper and the pantry boy would perpetually work at the company's premises and get paid by the agency which gets these costs reimbursed at a markup from the company
My one concern is that 'blue collared workers' would always be 'living on the edge' for a lifetime.
Since the skillsets they possess qualify them only for a contractual job, they will never ever be permanent employees of any company, never get the chance to dream beyond the given project / time-period.
Basically no matter how sincerely they serve the organisations, there is no sense of belongingness, no sense of security, no vacations, no Medical Leave, no Privileged Leave, no 'Maternity Leave' that we all feel entitled to as 'white collared workers'. Work and get paid for as long as you can work. And then be fired !!
Again, the counter to this is that the 'blue collared workers' as a category have the tendency to form unions the moment they get a permanent job, their productivity goes for a toss and get into disruptive mode. But what about the really sincere ones, don't they get plagued by the 'Genhu ke saath ghun bhi pis jata hai' syndrome
So not sure where can be draw the line as regards the ethical dilemnas that emerge with this arrangement
What do you think about making them 'live on the edge' for the lifetime??
Could there be more refined models which are more equitable?
Does your organisation as a matter of practice , convert some temp staff into permanent ones?
Would love to hear from you from this !!