The aim of this paper is to analyze the behaviour of firms in the hiring and firing of workers by type of labour contract (permanent or temporary) over the economic cycle. The database used is the ‘Encuesta de Coyuntura Laboral’ 1999-2010. The outcomes show that the proportions of new contracts and dismissals of temporary workers have, in general, a countercyclical behaviour: they grow in slump periods (when the GDP falls and the unemployment rate increases) and fall in boom periods (when the GDP rises and the unemployment rate diminishes).

Key words: Temporary hiring, economic cycle, labour reform.
JEL classification: J23, J41, J63.