The In-House Contracting Paradox: Flexibility, Control, and Tension

SummaryThis study argues that the coordination of workplace changes brought about by increased flexibility attained through the utilization of contract labor is fraught with tension, which influences the ways in which employment relationships are shaped in the context of any given firm. The essence of such tension lies in the pursuit of organizational flexibility and quality control in the production process. Contradictions arise out of the attempt of user firms to avoid direct responsibility for the workforce while at the same time exerting managerial control over externalized contract workers. Such tensions and paradoxes are associated with conflicts of interest, and compromise between and within workplace actors.