Australia now has the second highest percentage of temporary workers anywhere in the world with 3.8 per cent of our total working population employed on a temporary basis.

The increased prevalence of enterprise bargaining in the workforce, a decline in the proportion of firms with "closed union shops" and a growth in the use of human resource firms have all been among the factors that have led to a huge increase in the propensity for employers to use temporary labour*.

Cartoon by Ron Tandberg

This trend is mirrored across the world, according to an international study conducted by Page Personnel in 2013, which found three in five of all professionals and one in three employers expected to see a rise in the need for temporary employment in the future.

According to the study, employees in Australia have the most positive attitude towards temporary employment across the 17 countries surveyed, with over 75 per cent of temporary employees satisfied with their employment.