Why temping (faire de l'intérim) can be a tempting (tentant) choice

Temps can be far happier than permanent staff, says Fred Redwood

“I work as a PA (Personal Assistant), exclusively for media companies,” she says. “Being a temp means I can choose when and where I work, and I can take long breaks (pauses), travelling at the cheapest times. Temping is interesting because I work for everybody from director level down, which gives me an overview (vue d'ensemble) of each company.”

Now, researchers at Birkbeck College, University of London, claim (invoquent) that far from being a one-off (exceptionnelle), carefree (insouciante), workplace nomad, Taggart illustrates a fact of modern office life — that temps are often far happier in their work than permanent staff.
 

Twenty-eight per cent of workplaces (entreprise/lieux de travail) use temps. Lacking (manquer) job security and the chance to update (mettre à jour)  their skills (compétences), why should they be so happy at work? Dr Kate Mackenzie Davey, a lecturer (professeur d'université) in organisation psycho- logy at Birkbeck College, says: “Temps feel in control of their working lives, which is important. The temps’ work agreement is simple and clear-cut (clair/net), so there is none of the uncertainty that bothers (ennuyer) other PAs about what is expected of them. Their rates of pay (niveaux de salaire) are often higher than those of the regular staff and there’s no need to become involved (impliqués) in office politics.”

However (cependant), there is more to job satisfaction (mieux vaut être satisfait par son travail que...) than good money and short hours. What about the temps’ sense of involvement (implication/investissement) ? And what about self-image? While (alors que)  there is no truth (confiance) in the television sketch (image) of the temp — bored (qi s'ennuie) , painting her nails (ongles) in between jobs and dreaming of getting a permanent position — surely some temps must feel at the bottom (en bas de) of the office hierarchy? “That’s an outdated (démodée) image,” Mackenzie Davey says. “It’s now easy for companies to hire and fire (renvoyer) staff (personnel), so the notion of permanence is a thing of the past. PAs are following in the footsteps (pas) of other temporary staff, who now have high-status roles (postes à haut niveau) — such as business and technical consultants.”

Informations complémentaires
1) - en IDF
En Ile-de-France, le recours à l’emploi intérimaire est moins fréquent qu’en province. En effet, les secteurs les plus utilisateurs, l’industrie automobile, le transport et la construction, sont moins présents dans la région. Excepté pour le secteur du transport, ils recourent également moins à l’intérim. De l’essor de l’intérim au cours des dix dernières années ont émergé de nouvelles tendances. L’utilisation de l’intérim s’intensifie dans les secteurs habituellement utilisateurs, mais s’étend à d’autres comme les services. Les emplois intérimaires se diffusent pour de nouvelles catégories de personnes, notamment plus âgées, et dans de nouveaux territoires, en particulier en grande couronne.

2) - Entre 1997 et 2006