Labor Gets Devalued Again- The Rise Of Contract Labor In The Third World

Contract labor has become the dominant form of employment in certain countries. Usually these employment contracts are for six months. The employee gets a job for six months. The employer gets a six month employee, sometimes with the option to renew, but does not have to worry about pesky things such as raises, benefits, unions, funding retirements, and in many cases having to pay for the long term care of employees injured permanently on the job. The entire construction of the contract labor system is for the benefit of companies and management, with little or no regards to the human beings that actually do the labor. For many, the six month contract cycle means that at the end of the six months, there are down periods in which no income is coming in, and the worker has to waste time looking for the next six month contract. This means an endless cycle of short term employment and endless periods of unemployment. Unemployment insurance is nonexistent, so there is nothing to cushion workers during the frequent down periods between contracts. Regardless of how well a worker might be at a job, the contract system virtually assures that few workers will ever get rewarded for their efforts. When the six months are over, they are almost always out the door. In those third world countries where contract labor is now widespread, workers face a lifetime of low wages, no job security, no health insurance, no retirement, no chance of escaping poverty.