Marx in the News

I was looking through some articles on the internet and I can across this particular article: Use of temps may no longer signal permanent hiring. This article tells about the current state of temp services with companies during a recession. It used to be that when a company hires a temp worker, there is a possibility that after at least three months, that worker could be hired permanently at the company. Due to the state of the economy, a lot of companies that are hiring temp workers have been hesitant to hire them full-time and instead, only hire them for part-time work. Some say it's because employer have a lack of confidence that the economic rebound has staying power. They fear that their sales will remain weak or falter as consumers spend cautiously.

Companies don't want to have to hired permanent workers and then get rid of them in six months because of the unstable economy. They are not willing to risk the cost of it. They are unsure about the going demands for what they produce. But now employers are squeezing more work out of the permanent staff they have left. So in turn, people are doing the jobs of others and not rally getting paid for doing that job as well as their own.

I took this mean exactly what Marx says when he explains how skilled becomes unskilled and capitalist needs a mass of unemployed people to work. It is in the self-interest of the company heads and not that of the workers. This is where you get a lot of unemployed people competing for jobs that paid less than what they are used to getting in hopes of getting permanent positions.