Working Lives Research Institute
PositionVisiting Research Fellow
Tommy has been employed at Göteborg University since 1997 and is currently a Visiting Research Fellow at the Working Lives Research Institute
Tommy has written several reports on working time issues and
flexibility over the last couple of years. In 2001 he finished his thesis Time
Wars. Working Time Development in Sweden in a Centennial and International
Perspective. The thesis analyses actors as well as structures and explains the
development of working time. The thesis is published in Swedish with an English
summary.
Tommy has conducted several studies on flexibility. His main
interest has been how firms and organisations’ adapt to changes in demand, i.e.
the different strategies utilised for handling changes in production volume such
as working time flexibility, numerical flexibility, and functional flexibility.
The analyses have focused on mechanisms that influence the development of these
strategies for flexibility and their consequences on a societal level, at work
place level and individual level.
Current research project: The Use of Agency Work
The use of
agency work is a relatively new phenomenon in Sweden. Up to 1993 private work
agencies were illegal. Some minor exceptions were accepted. A new law in 1993
made both private employment agencies and work agencies legal. The major idea
with the 1993 law is to protect individuals from being exploited. However, the
regulation for the agency industry is among the least regulated in EC.
The purpose of the current research project is to compare the
use of agency workers Sweden with the British experiences. Britain is an
interesting comparison since it has a more extensive use of agency workers.
Tommy’s research will include a research overview and a comparison of published
statistics on the use of agency work in UK with data from a Swedish survey. Case
studies will be used to analyse the effects on work organisation and power
relations in work places that uses agency workers.
Sweden: T.Isidorsson@av.gu.se
Department
for Work Science,
Göteborg University
Box 705,
SE 405 30 Göteborg,
SWEDEN.
Phone:+46(0)317735501
Mobile:+46(0)709266371
Facsimile:+46(0)317735507
Isidorsson, Tommy. (2001). Striden om tiden. Arbetstidens utveckling i Sverige under 100 år i ett internationellt perspektiv. [Written in Swedish with an English summary. Time Wars. Working Time Development in Sweden in a Centennial and International Perspective.] Diss. Department for History. Göteborg University. See Abstract.
Håkansson, Kristina och Tommy Isidorsson. (1999). Flexibla tider. Flexibilitetsstrategier inom detaljhandeln. [Written in Swedish: Flexible times. Strategies for flexibility in the retail trade.] Work Science in West Sweden. Göteborg University.
Håkansson, Kristina och Tommy Isidorsson. (1997). Flexibla tider. En studie av flexibla arbetstider och andra flexibilitetsstrategier inom verkstadsindustrin. [Written in Swedish: Flexible times. Working time flexibility and other strategies for flexibility in the engineering industry.] International Working Lives Studies. Göteborg University.
Isidorsson, Tommy. (1994). Arbetstidsfrågan i internationell belysning. Förlopp, förklaringar och följder. [Written in Swedish: The working time issue in an international perspective.] Swedish Metalworkers Union. Stockholm.
Håkansson, Kristina and Tommy Isidorsson. (2004). "Hyresarbetskraft. Användning av inhyrd arbetskraft på den svenska arbetsmarknaden" [Written in Swedish: Agency workers. The use of agency workers on the Swedish labour market.] In Arbete och Arbetsmarknad. National Institute for Working Life & National Labour Market Board, Stockholm.
Håkansson, Kristina and Tommy Isidorsson. (forthcoming 2005).
"The Use of Agency Workers in Sweden and Britain", in Bengt Furåker, Kristina
Håkansson, and Jan Ch. Karlsson (eds.) Flexibility (working
name).
Håkansson, Kristina and Tommy Isidorsson. (2003). "Flexible Times. Dynamics and Consequences of Company Strategies for Flexibility", in Flemming, Daniel and Christer Thörnqvist (eds.) Nordic Management - Labour Relations and Internationalization. Nord 2003:015. Nordic Council of Ministers. Copenhagen.
Håkansson, Kristina och Tommy Isidorsson. (2003). "Hyresarbetskraft. Användning av inhyrd arbetskraft på den svenska arbetsmarknaden. [Written in Swedish: The use of agency worker on the Swedish labour market.] In Blomsterberg, Marianne och Tiiu Soidre (ed). Reflektioner. Perspektiv i forskning om arbetsliv och arbetsmarknad. Department for Sociology. Göteborg University.
Håkansson, Kristina och Tommy Isidorsson. (1998). "Competence and Flexibility", in Fleming, Daniel et al. (eds.) Global redefining of working life - A new Nordic agenda for competence and participation. Nord 1998:12. Nordic Council of Ministers. Copenhagen.