The growth in the Indian economy is putting pressure on companies to find alternative sources of manpower to meet their needs. Moreover, since the fluctuations in the demand for labor in certain sectors such as IT, BPO, FMCG, etc. is high, there is a need for the employers to develop flexible policies for employment. This article sheds light on the employment scenario in India and suggests that certain labor reforms are needed to enable the employers to source labor in flexible ways. In particular, it also highlights the trends in temporary staffing in India, both in the organized as well as the unorganized sector and posits that temporary staffing is one way through which the immediate need for manpower can be met on flexible terms.

Approximately, 3.5-5% of the total Indian workforce is expected to work on a temporary basis in the foreseeable future going by the current trend. This figure is at par with that of the US, where currently approximately 4% of the workforce are temporary workers. While the number of temporary workers in the US has remained almost stable over the past ten years, in India the percentage of temporary workers is estimated to grow.

This trend is in line with changes taking place at a global level. Life-long employment is neither being guaranteed by the employers nor is it a preferred option for today's workforce. This is not to say that long-term employment is no longer a norm, but that there is sufficient evidence to say that far-reaching changes in the employer-employee relationship are on the anvil. Flexibility is the preferred option for both the employers and the employees. On one hand, while the employers are faced with the challenge of cutting down on fixed costs and reducing the overall legal liability of having a large workforce on their payrolls, the workers on the other hand have a number of different reasons to opt for temporary work. These reasons are listed below based on the results of a survey conducted by Deloitte&Touche.

HRM Review Magazine, Temporary Staffing Industry, Indian Economy, Information Technology, IT, Business process Outsourcing, BPO, Fast Moving Consumer Goods, FMCG, International Labor Organization, Contract Labor Regulation Act, Industrial Disputes Act, Gross Domestic Products, GDP, Management Skills, Information Technology, IT, IT-enabled Services, ITES.