The so-called outsourcing (subcontracting) question and its regulation

Abstract

Although outsourcing (or subcontracting) has been subject of great controversy, there is predominant consensus over the concept that defines it. The aim of this paper is to discuss this consensus and point out its contradictions, indicating that the casualization of labour related to outsourcing is not a contingency, but corollary of the nature of this way of hiring workers, which tends to reduce the chances of limiting labour exploitation.