Facilitating transitions for vulnerable job seekers who
face barriers: the role of alternative staffing
organizations in the U.S.
Françoise Carré, Brandynn Holgate, and Helen Levine
Center for Social Policy
McCormack Graduate School
University of Massachusetts Boston, USA
Presentation at
FlexWork Research Centre International Conference
Leuven, 27th and 28th October 2011
Introduction
 Alternative staffing organizations (ASOs)
▸ Form of labor market intermediary operating in the bottom of the
labor market
▸ Community-based organizations and non profits
▸ Serving vulnerable job seekers
Questions:
 Why do vulnerable job seekers need job brokering?
 What service does an ASO provide them?
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Center for Social Policy
Structural changes in the labor market
 Post-war through 1980’s:
 Internal labor markets vs. “secondary” labor markets (Piore, 1970,
Liebow, 1967)
 Since 1990:
 Increase in formal screening and market-mediation for entry-level
jobs (Abraham, 1990, Benner, et al., 2007)
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Center for Social Policy
Vulnerable job seekers and job search
 Formalized application processes
 Intermediaries: temporary staffing, day labor operators,
labor brokers, service subcontractors (Carré and Joshi
2000, Benner et al 2007)
 Interpersonal networks? Community? Weak?
 Workforce intermediaries (Harrisson and Weiss 1998,
Giloth 2003)
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ASOs in the U.S.
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Our work
 2002-03 survey of 29 alternative staffing organizations
nationwide and case studies of a subsample of eight (Carré et
al 2003)
 2005-08 in-depth monitoring and evaluation of 4 ASOs (Carré
et al 2009)
– staff; job assignments; customer businesses
 2008-11 in-depth monitoring and evaluation of 4 ASOs (Carré
et al 2011)
– worker outcomes; customer businesses
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Center for Social Policy
How is alternative staffing different from
conventional staffing in the U.S.?
 ASOs address barriers that vulnerable job seekers face
 ASOs seek to address difficulties with the hiring and
screening process
 Personal contact with staff is the primary difference
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Center for Social Policy
Incidence (%) of barriers to employment for job
seekers (4 ASOs) – 2010-11
37
35
33
26
22
Disability
Public
No Driver's
Assistance License
Has
Children
21
No HS
Diploma
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Conviction
Center for Social Policy
Job opportunities through the ASOs
▸ Majority of ASOs assignments are in clerical, building
services, production and general labor positions
▸ Work patterns with ASO vary across workers (total hours)
▸ Job assignments offer low wages on average
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Center for Social Policy
How customer businesses assess ASO
services
▸ Understand customer business priorities
“They understand our environment, [we are] not just going to a placement agency.”
▸ Quality of candidate screening
“[ASO] screens people better, I don’t just get a warm body.”
▸ Support services for workers
“Their support structure is their safety net…We can’t provide it.”
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Center for Social Policy
Workers’ expectations and perspective on job
search
▸ “[The ASO] referred me to the [customer business] where I’m
working now. Then after three months, I got taken on full time. I don’t
know how I would have gotten started otherwise…. I couldn’t get in
anywhere with no experience.”
▸ “[Supervisors] might have anywhere between 400 to 800
applications for one administrative job, six to 12 people being
picked…to interview…[and] to know that there’s such a big pool and
you’re the one [that’s interviewed].”
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Conclusion
 Insights for other countries
 Challenges
 Future research
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