Annual cycle of work and subjective labor precariousness in sheepshearers of Villa Sara

Abstract

This research analized the links between the annual cycle of work, spatial mobility and labor precariousness in Villa Sara sheep-shearers. The guiding hypotheses for the study proposed that the annual cycle of work is one of the factors explaining labor precariousness and that the spatial mobility experienced by workers during the annual cycle is another factor which accentuates precariousness. Both hypotheses were confirmed during the course of this work. This article studies analyzes the relations between the annual cycle of work and the subjective dimension of job insecurity. The study shows that satisfaction with work and even with the income received during the annual cycle of work is reduced compared to the social dissatisfaction that generates spatial mobility and times of absence associated with the annual cycle of temporary work. Thus, the spatial and temporal mobility emerge as a central variable of dissatisfaction that is expressed in the strategies which have been established by the employees, either with the integration of new jobs, with the desire of obtaining a permanent employment or with the migration towards new places. This study contributes to knowledge of temporary employees, their perception about their work and the expectations regarding the continuation of their links with the agricultural sector. This paper sets down the question about how the dissatisfaction of employees is associated with the increasing demand of temporary workers.