Seasonal and Temporary Work

Abstract

The labour shortage in the Soviet Union has not only led the state to experiment with increasing the number of workers by tapping non-traditional sources of labour, but it has also led to an increasing use of seasonal and temporary employment to meet immediate needs. On the demand side, seasonal and temporary employment allows state economic planners to fill gaps in the labour force in jobs that do not require year-round employment. In the case of seasonal employment the need for labour is more or less predictable, such as during the peak times in agriculture. At times, the seasonal nature of work merges with the temporary status of a job and the distinction is strictly legal rather than functional. On the supply side such employment taps several wide ranging sources of labour, including collective farmers who are idle in the off-seasons, urbanites on holiday, workers who take unpaid leaves of absence and housewives who want a few months’ work. Seasonal employment can be voluntary, in which case work is chosen over leisure (e.g. holiday-makers and housewives) or workers substitute one form of employment for another (e.g. moonlighting urbanites). It can also be involuntary, as in the case where industrial workers are assigned to the autumn harvest.