3.European governments have recently passed legislation making it Essay

3.European governments have recently passed legislation making it easier for firms to introduce short-term employment contracts. Evaluate the implications for - Essay Example This old convention, symbolised by an interchange of job security for work done and faithfulness, is being replaced by a new convention wherein employers guarantee to teach workers and enable them to be employed in several firms, but give no assurance of permanent job. The use of short-term contract workers is not restricted to clerical work, but also clinches high-skill profession like engineering, research, computer programming, drafting etc. (Kalleberg; Knoke; Marsden 4) The method of employing provisional short-term contract employees is not a new or an innovative one. IT firms started this method in the mid part of the 1990s and they have been effectively employing contractors since the last decade. But in the last few years, there has been an increasing dependence on contract workers in the fields like medical writing, communications, sales and marketing of the products of pharmaceutical companies. Several huge pharmaceutical as well as biotech firms have understood that it is more lucrative to employ temporary workers on a required basis when compared with keeping costly permanent employees having significantly lesser work. (Contract Employment: A New Paradigm for Pharma and Biotech) Reducing cost has an effect on the size as well as structure of jobs. Companies are able to stimulate a switch of permanent jobs with that of short-term contracts. (Nunziata, L; Stafolani 73) In recent times, there have been labour changes across Europe. It has been argued that the small employment boom that has been witnessed of late in Europe has mainly been due to short-term employment. (Alesina; Giavazzi 9) In France, the law forming the First Employment Contract known as the Contrat Premiere Embauche or CPE was being passed by parliament with regard to an expansive bill relating to equal opportunities. According to the CPE, short-term work contract was to be provided with a 2-year testing