The Business Case For Labour Broking In South Africa

Globalisation has brought about changes in the world of work, in particular the restructuring of the workplace in order to promote labour market flexibility. Labour market flexibility comes about as companies compete and cut costs through the growth of waged occupations created in temporary jobs and casual positions. South Africa is currently dealing with the rising use by companies of temporary employment agencies, also known as labour brokers, who apparently facilitate this labour market flexibility. Labour broking has stirred up a lot of controversy in South Africa through the media, unions and many movements to the point where labour broking has been labelled as a new form of slavery that further fuels worker exploitation. Certain abuses have been associated with the practice of labour broking in relation to ensuring decent jobs in South Africa’s globalizing capitalism. This research has been conducted regarding the business case for labour broking and subjecting it to an assessment alongside the notion of decent work as advocated by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The research solicits the opinions of the labour broker so they can directly address, justify and/or clarify the accusations against them as being against the four pillars of decent work. This research provides a platform for the labour brokers to be able to defend the role they play in what has been labelled as an inhumane, insensitive, detached system and strategy.