It has by now become a familiar phenomenon in several large cities in the Netherlands: at any given time delivery riders for Deliveroo or instant grocery delivery services like Gorillas or Flink dash through traffic to deliver the meal or groceries to the customer on time.
Many of the delivery workers are employees with a flexible employment contract. Flexible working is attractive to people because they can work anywhere without being dependent on time or place. Whether you work from home, in a shared workspace or in the office: flexible work offers the freedom to arrange work and private life as you see fit.
Flexible labor market
The flex worker does not exist. There are different types of employees with a flexible employment contract: from temporary agency workers and seconded employees to on-call workers. Although flexible working offers many advantages for workers in various groups, it also affects their careers and income security. From migrant workers, people with disabilities, and those aged 50 and over to self-employed (freelancers): with a temporary contract they, for example, more often receive a lower salary, less protection and often no training opportunities.
Out data from the CBS it appears that in 2020 there were over 1.7 million employees with a flexible employment relationship. The number of flexible workers did decrease in 2020 compared to previous years due to the ongoing corona crisis. Many employers allowed temporary employment contracts to lapse because of the corona measures.
Inequality due to flexible contracts
Employers have various reasons to call on flexible workers. During busy periods it is convenient for many organizations to hire a few extra hands, think for example of PostNL around Christmas. Or companies hire flexible workers for a short period to save costs. However, these temporary employment contracts are not always a stepping stone to more employment or a permanent job.
Lin Rouvroye, a PhD candidate at the demographic institute NIDI, reports in her research that Dutch employers also see disadvantages in the excessive use of flexible contracts. In her research meer dan de helft van de bijna 800 geënquêteerde werkgevers erkent dat ze vaak minder geneigd zijn te investeren in de ontwikkeling van werknemers met een flexibel contract. The study also shows that:
● The majority of employers only offer a flexible contract to test the new staff for suitability (58%).
● One third of employers say that flexible contracts increase the management burden (31%).
● And according to a quarter of employers, deploying many flexible workers threatens the quality of their services or products (25%).
The practice
The disadvantages of flexible working from Rouvroye’s research apply mainly to the traditional temporary agency worker, says Eugène van Berkel, managing partner at TalentIn. “We are increasingly seeing that training programs are also being started for this group by employment agencies, whether or not in consultation with hiring companies.” According to van Berkel, the majority of flexible workers consciously choose a flexible employment relationship. They are employees with a higher education, specific knowledge and/or skills or several years of work experience. Van Berkel states that organizations hire flexible workers for both strategic and practical reasons:
● It concerns work on innovations or of a temporary nature;
● There must be rapid scaling up and down within the organization;
● Due to a shortage in the labour market, roles are difficult to fill.
Flex work also offers a solution for people who are distant from the labor market. For example, for young people, lower- and middle-educated individuals, or migrant workers, flex work is a way to enter the Dutch labor market. Without the help of a temp agency, it can be difficult for such groups to start and develop a career.
The future
The labor market remains constantly in motion. It remains important for employers to carefully consider the balance of flexible workers and permanent employees in the organization; both for the benefit of the organization and the individual. When flexible work is used correctly by the employer, a more level playing field emerges. An important task for employers.
