Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce the special issue volume that examines a range of concerns, challenges and responses relating to temporary workers and human resource management (HRM). Design/methodology/approach – The paper highlights eight key research questions and...

This paper reviews three key issues associated with temporary agency work (referred to as agency work herewith) by drawing on Australian and New Zealand trends and experiences. First, the authors contend that it is surprising, in light of its high flexibility, that agency work constitutes a...

Over the past ten years there has been a massive growth in call centres worldwide. These centres are said to represent the most dynamic growth area in white-collar employment internationally since the mid 1990s. Yet the footloose and global nature of the industry means that jobs will always be...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on the implications of the gender wage gap in Australia, before considering policy responses and their effectiveness at both the government and workplace levels. Design/methodology/approach – The method concerns an extensive literature review...

Purpose – The paper seeks to determine whether and how the quality of working life (QWL) varies between call centres (CCs) in the in‐house/outsourced, public and private sectors and the implications of these findings on human resource management (HRM). Design/methodology/approach – This...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to bridge a gap in the call centre literature by considering how individual employees perceive their level of voice over workplace decisions. The inclusion of direct voice mechanisms is noteworthy as these are forms that have received much less attention...

Purpose: Over the past few decades, many initiatives have been proposed in response to critical environmental challenges. However, in most cases, progress has been inadequate, raising questions as to why so few organisations have been successful in adopting effective sustainability measures. To...

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the non-market strategies adopted by government-contracted small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in order to address the challenges they faced in the business of procurement. Although SMEs are important contributors to employment and the national...

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to focus on graduate work-readiness challenges in three Asia Pacific economies (Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia), and the roles of three main stakeholders (government, employers and industry) in the process. The intention of the paper is to design a...

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to outline the key global challenges relating to youth employment and consider some ways that they may be addressed to allow their inclusion in the contemporary workplace. Also, the paper provides a brief introduction and rationale for the other five...