INSIDE VIEW: KELLY SERVICES

摘要

In sports, 'free agency' transformed employment terms for both players and owners: players no longer needed to commit to a single team if the contract terms weren't favourable; owners had to balance between a stable, highly paid core of stars and a more transient group of players who would morefluidly meet the team's ever-changing needs. That same phenomenon is now revolutionizing scientific employment -for both employees and employers. The prolonged global economic slump is at least partly to blame, says Alan Edwards, Vice President and Science Product Leader, Centers of Excellence, Kelly Services, Inc. Companies were cautious about bringing on full-time permanent workers in a down market, but still needed increased productivity to swim up the economic stream. So they hired more temporary and contingent employees. As a result, 44 percent of the workforce is considered a free agent, with the average company make-up comprising 26 percent contingent employees (including temporary workers, interns, consultants and contractors). As the recession eased, Edwards noticed an interesting trend: these contingent workers tended to hold onto their temporary positions for longer. Edwards tells Nature about how both employees and employers can navigate the new territory of scientific free agency and maximize the system's benefits.