Arbeit macht frei

We'd have thought that, with their history, Germans would be a little more circumspect throwing around terms like 'slave labor', but this is still a useful demonstration of how pricing clears markets...even sticky European labor markets;

Temporary work is booming in Germany. Almost 2 percent of all employees are temps rented by agencies to other companies to meet peaks in demand without hiring new staff. But conditions are bad in some agencies.

900,000 temp workers are registered with German temporary work agencies. The agencies have the official permission to 'allocate employees,' or rent out their employees to other companies in temporary need of manpower.

The politicians who came up with the idea originally believed that the system would allow the German economy to better react to business fluctuations. At the same time, temporary work would help unemployed people get into permanent jobs. That's how it works in theory, anyway.

Which seems to be the actuality too, if one reads the article;

Many temporary workers appreciate their agencies for the level of social security they offer. The workers benefit from permanent contracts, which are hardly available any more on the labor market. In addition, a Christmas bonus is included, employment protection and 30 days of paid holiday leave.

"I would have had to stop working after I had a slipped disc," says Roland Seiberlich. "I was given a second chance as a temporary worker," the former car mechanic says enthusiastically, who works as a fork lift driver for his agency.

Office clerk Sascha Eisenhut sees more advantages than disadvantages. "You can try out different firms and find out for yourself what it is that you like doing best." And there is always the chance, he says, that the company that hired you temporarily will give you a permanent contract. The Economic Institute in Cologne (ZIW) confirms that in the last couple of years, some 25 percent of all employees received a permanent job via temporary employment.