A Critical Ethnography on Decent Work of Selected Private

Recruitment and Placement Agencies for Local Employment in Metro

Manila
Jerel Jemimah V. Capulong
MS Human Resource Management
University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines
cjereljemimah@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT
Employment is one of the essential needs in a person's life to have
financial stability. However, there are experiences that may hinder the
improvement of living standards such as poor working condition and
inadequate benefits that one must acquire. This then derived the author to
investigate on the job rewards and job satisfaction of employees in selected
private recruitment and placement agencies for local employment in Metro
Manila that may result to precarious employment which weaken decent
work. It will be achieved through the use of qualitative approach particularly
critical ethnography to profoundly understand the underlying determinants
towards precarious employment. Subjects will be selected by means of
convenience sampling considering the availability and compliance of the
respondent. Also, purposive sampling will be utilized since participants are
chosen in accordance to the criteria necessary to answer the research
problem of the study. Potential respondents are wage and salary non-regular
workers who worked for private establishment (Philippine Statistics Authority
7B, 2015) ages 18-45 (Philippine Statistics Authority 3B, 2015). The locale of
the study is along the proximity of Metro Manila. This research will apprise
not only the chosen respondents and their employers but also for the
promotion of decent work here in the Philippines.
Keywords: decent work, critical ethnography, private recruitment,
placement agencies, man power agencies, non-regular work, job reward, job
satisfaction

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1

Background of the Study

According to (Taruc, 2015) of CNN Philippines report on the recent survey

of Pusle Asia, Filipinos are bothered most on economic issues than national
security and socio-political affairs. Major concerns are inflation control, the
increase of worker's pay, fight against government corruption, poverty
reduction, job creation, and the fight against crime. Given this case, it shows
the importance of promoting decent work in the country since two major
concerns discuss the status of employment. Decent work is a

1.2

Research Problem

The paper extensively needs to apprehend what are the factors that
employees of selected man power agencies experience diminishing job
reward and satisfaction which result to precarious employment.
In line with this are specific problems that led the researcher to the main
argument of this paper which will be enumerated in the following
statements:
a. What are the reasons of selected employees to continue working on
man power agencies?
b. How does the triadic employment relation affect the working
condition of agency employees?
c. What are the elements that influence the job rewards of the
workers?
These questions are used as an aid to provide the needed result in the
study. Knowing that this issue is widely distributed, these arguments would
fulfil the goal adequate for this research.

1.3

Objectives of the Study

The general objective of the study is to describe how work environments and
precarious work can affect variables such as job satisfaction and job rewards
of agency employees.
Specifically, the objectives of the study are focused on the following:
a. To determine the employment proceedings relative to job rewards
and job satisfaction of employees;
b. To illustrate the effect of precarious work on the following (a)
selected man power agency employees; (b) workplace health and

1.4

safety (c) legal rights

c. To identify workers security and stability on employment
Significance of the Study

This research study can be used to notify the future workers on what to
expect on the working conditions of these recruitment agencies. It will be a
big help for the employees to lessen or eliminate precarious work practices
and provide the suitable benefits for recruitment agency employees. This
paper can also be used as a guide for those who wish to manage their own
placement agencies in terms of what they can do to improve the social wellbeing of their employers and not just focused on gaining profits for their
personal desires. The data on this study may be an aid for DOLE, BLES and
other government organizations to producing future studies related to decent
work in the Philippines since majority of the literatures on this subject are for
developing countries.

1.5

Theoretical Framework

The theory that will be analyzed and applied regarding the workers
condition is Motivation-Hygiene Theory of Frederick Herzberg (Ball, 2003). To
better understand employee attitudes and motivation, Frederick Herzberg

performed studies to determine which factors in an employee's work

environment caused satisfaction or dissatisfaction (Ball, 2003). The studies
included interviews in which employees where asked what pleased and
displeased them about their work.

He called the satisfiers motivators and

the dissatisfiers hygiene factors, using the term "hygiene" in the sense that
they are considered maintenance factors that are necessary to avoid
dissatisfaction but that by themselves do not provide satisfaction.

The following table presents the top six factors causing dissatisfaction
and the top six factors causing satisfaction, listed in the order of higher to
lower importance.
Factors Affecting Job Attitudes

Leading to Dissatisfaction

Leading to Satisfaction

Company policy

Achievement

Supervision

Recognition

Relationship w/Boss

Work itself

Work conditions

Responsibility

Salary

Advancement

Relationship w/Peers

Growth

This is applicable to the study since the research problem focuses on the
job satisfaction and job rewards affecting job attitudes of recruitment agency
employees.
1.6

Conceptual Framework

Conceptual framework is used to explain the concepts and figures that

the researcher wanted to express to the readers of his or her study (Batan
2013). This paper then illustrates how the job satisfaction, job rewards and
triadic employment relations lead to precarious work of man power agency
employees.

Triadic
employment
relations
1. Employee and
client (role,
support and
time frame)
2. Employee and
agency (support
and time frame)
1.7
Scope
and
3. Client
and

1.8
1.9

Job rewards:
Skills utilization
Autonomy
Pay
Intrnsic rewards
Insecurity
Career
opportunities

Job
satisfaction

Limitations
ofwork
the of
Study
Precarious
employees
Hypotheses
Definition of terms

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research Design
The method in the study will be constructed with the assistance of
qualitative research. Qualitative research provide the needs on interpreting,

investigating and analyzing social phenomenon which is mainly concern on

the question why (Gibbs 2007; Lichtman 2013).
The paper integrates critical ethnography as a research design on
account of seeing social life as constructed in contexts of power (Myers,
2013). This tends to open scrutiny otherwise hidden agendas, power
centers, and assumptions that inhibit, repress and constrain (Myers, 2013).
3.2

Research Participants
Convenience sampling will be used for choosing the number of

participants in the study. Convenience sampling is a type of non-probability

sampling technique. Non-probability sampling focuses on sampling
techniques that are based on the judgement of the researcher. There will be
approximately 25 selected participants observed selected local employment
recruitment agencies in Metro Manila. This process is called data saturation
wherein the researcher continuously collects data until it reaches the criteria
he/she sets on the data he/she needed. The chosen participants are adults
in working ages 18-45 years old (Philippine Statistics Authority 3B, 2015)
who are non-regular workers in man power agencies.

3.3

Research Instruments

The respondents will answer open-ended questions which will demand for
answers that does not limit them in responses (Lichtman 2013; Richardson
2000). These questions will be established through a face-to-face in-depth
interview which is appropriate for sensitive or controversial topics (Boyce
and Neale 2006; Tracy 2013). This technique will ask the respondents in a
direct manner to be able to express the judgments about a particular subject
of issue (Mcdavid and Harari 1974).

The data analysis in this research will be a thematic analysis wherein

texts transcribed after the interview would be analyzed and categorized in
themes arranged by the researcher (Guest, MacQueen, and Namey 2012;
Howitt 2010). This analysis will provide the answer for the research questions
in the study. To be able to sustain the sufficient answer needed in the study,
the researcher will include instruments for data analysis like guideline
questions and interview schedule for an easier process of interview. The
needed tools in the study are video camera and a tape recorder. WEFT (Web
Embedding Fonts Tool) and NVIVO software will be the tools for analyzing
both qualitative data in order to categorize the themes exhibited from the
interviews.
3.4
3.5
3.6

Data and Variables

Research Model
Treatment of Data