swissstaffing, the association of Swiss personnel service providers, currently sees the industry confronted with various regulatory challenges. Swiss Economics compiled a study for swissstaffing that shows the impact of existing and potential industry regulation on the labor market. The most important stakeholders were surveyed in order to examine the impact on society and the economy as a whole. The analysis scheme is based on the regulatory impact assessment.

The results show that temporary agency work prevents friction on the labor market and enables companies and employees to come together more efficiently and quickly. It is true that there is a tension between the flexibility of the labor market and the job security of employees. Nevertheless, the central question of alternatives to temporary work arises: without this form of work, there would be an increase in self-employment, temporary employment, work on demand - all of which are less well regulated - as well as unemployment or even undeclared work.

Temporary agency workers already benefit from comprehensive protection under the Collective Employment Contract for Staff Leasing, which regulates minimum wages and occupational benefits, among other things. Additional regulations would therefore bring no further benefit. On the other hand, more efficient measures to solve any problems could be increased self-regulation by staff leasing companies, targeted training for staff and an optimized monitoring system for staff leasing companies and temporary employment agencies.

Methods

• Literature research
• Data Analysis
• Stakeholder interviews

Publication

• Study (download on swisstaffing website, in German and French only)