The Expanding Role of Temporary Help Agencies in Japan's Emerging External Labor Market

摘要

The key role of temporary help agencies in the expansion of the external market for labor in Japan is the subject of this article. As a result of deregulatory changes in and after 1999 in Japan, the temporary help industry has impacted on changes in firms' reliance on external labor. Based on a survey of and interviews at temporary agency firms, we found considerable heterogeneity among THAs. One segment of large agencies exhibited a strong market orientation in supplying business services, while two other segments of THAs were continuing, to varying degrees, to draw their business from either capital-related or parent companies within their groups.