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How human resource systems adjust to the shift towards contingent workers
Richard S. Belous
The human resource systems at many American corporations have experienced vast change in recent years because of increased competitive pressures. A key part of this change has been the dramatic growth of the "contingent" work force, which consists of workers who do not have a long-term attachment to their employers (for example, temporary, part-time, and subcontracted workers).
Corporations have responded to the competitive pressures by making employer-employee relations more flexible. In the 1980's, employers have generally used three methods to increase human resource flexibility. These shifts in employer behavior represent major institutional changes:
This excerpt is from an article published in the March 1989 issue of the Monthly Labor Review. The full text of the article is available in Adobe Acrobat's Portable Document Format (PDF). See How to view a PDF file for more information.
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Flexible labor: restructuring the American work force.
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