Daniel Gouveia Miranda Agnoli

Instruments for Private Employment Agencies: Defining the Set of Viable Business Strategies of Private Employment Agencies Daniel Gouveia Miranda Agnoli

The objective of this research is to define the set of viable strategies of a private employment agency and the instruments it may use to implement them. To reach this goal, four key questions must be addressed: 1) how did agency work originate, and where is it going? 2) how can agency work be done, and how can it be regulated? 3) what are the factors behind demand and supply for agency work services? 4)what instruments may be used by agencies to overcome the problem of commodification and to construct new markets? An agency seeking to overcome the commodification problem and establish a market position in a market segment with greater added value should intensify its relationships with the worker, with client firms and with society. This entails moving away from a concept of agency work as an activity resembling of ?product intermediaries?. Instruments for evolving agency work are reviewed and conditions for their application are illustrated. The key concept is to develop a long term strategy aimed at becoming a partner in the management of the human capital of client firms, not just a supplier of peripheral skills for short-term assignments.