Temporary employment in Argentina

During the 1990s Argentina's employment legislation was modified in order to flexibilize the use of temporary contracts, These reforms expanded the universe of workers that potentially could be employed under those employment forms and the circumstances under which firms could make use of such contracts. Although in 1998 the options for temporary employment were restricted once again, this topic continues to be at the center of the debate between those who demand greater flexibility in contractual mechanisms and those who call for increased labor protection and job security. This articles examines the characteristics of temporary employment in Argentina, the impact of the new contractual modalities on the employment structure as a whole, and their differential incidence on the employed population according to socio-demographic factors and to economic sectors, types of firms and jobs. The extent up to which temporary employment was a "bridge" to a permanent job is also assessed, by observing the transition rates from temporary employment forms to other labor market status. Moreover, the consequences of having been employed under temporary forms on the short term trajectories of those workers that could not obtain employment under indefinite contracts once their temporary job ended are analyzed, The main conclusions are that temporary workers have more precarious employment conditions that those with indefinite contracts, and that the flexibilization of contracts did riot help improve the employability of the less educated nor did it reduce "non registered" employment. On the other hand, the probabilities of moving from a temporary to a permanent job were found to be high in comparison to those observed in many OECD countries, where restrictions on dismissal tend be stronger than in Argentina.