scholarly journals When temporary agency work is not so temporary

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 238-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria José Chambel ◽  
Filipa Sobral
Keyword(s):  
Employment Status ◽  
Job Insecurity ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Self Determination Theory ◽  
Temporary Employment ◽  
Length Of Service ◽  
Temporary Agency Work ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Mixed Arguments ◽  
Temporary Agency Workers

Theory and empirical research have provided mixed arguments and evidence for the effects of temporary agency work on workers’ well-being. One unresolved issue is how length of service in agency work affects workers’ well-being and behaviour. This study, based on Self-Determination Theory, explored this question by comparing the motives for temporary agency employment and the well-being of workers who have had this employment status for different periods of time. From a sample of 3300 Portuguese temporary agency workers, the study compared three groups who had been engaged in temporary agency work for (1) up to 6 months, (2) between 7 and 12 months and (3) between 13 and 24 months. Regression analyses, controlling for background variables and job insecurity perception, showed that longer periods of temporary agency working were associated with lower autonomous and voluntary motives for temporary employment, workplace well-being and well-being outside work. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

scholarly journals Temporary Agency Work and Well-Being—The Mediating Role of Job Insecurity

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (21) ◽  
pp. 11154
Author(s):  
Birgit Thomson ◽  
Lena Hünefeld
Keyword(s):  
Job Insecurity ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Temporary Employment ◽  
Equal Treatment ◽  
Fixed Costs ◽  
Temporary Work ◽  
Potential Health ◽  
Temporary Agency Work

Organisations use non-standard employment as a means of flexibility and reduction of fixed costs. An increasingly growing group of employees are self-employed, have work contracts such as part-time and temporary contracts or are employed by a temporary agency, a development catalysed by the COVID pandemic. Whereas there is some evidence that temporary work might affect health via job insecurity (JI )there are hardly any studies focussing on the effects and mechanisms of temporary agency work (TAW). This study sheds light on TAW’s potential health impact and the role of JI in this respect using a mediation analysis. Based on the BIBB/BAuA-Employment Survey 2018 (N = 20.021, representative of the German working population), we analysed the direct effect of TAW on cognitive and psychosomatic aspects of well-being. In particular, we considered JI as mediator for this association. In line with the potentially detrimental effects of temporary employment on well-being, we found that TAW was related to unfavourable outcomes in terms of job satisfaction, general health status and musculoskeletal complaints. JI partially mediated all three underlying associations. Organisations need to be flexible and adaptable. However, by using temporary agency employment as a means to achieve this flexibility, managers and leaders should be aware that it is related to unfavourable well-being and hence hidden costs. In using this type of employment, both the temporary work agency and the user company should consider these health risks by providing health care, options for increasing the temporary agency workers (TA), workers employability, and equal treatment between permanent and TA workers at the actual workplace.

scholarly journals Temporary Employment, Permanent Stigma? Perceptions of Temporary Agency Workers Across Low- and High-Skilled Jobs

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 6-33
Author(s):  
Pia Cardone ◽  
Markus Tümpel ◽  
Christian M. Huber
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Employment Status ◽  
Temporary Employment ◽  
Complex Model ◽  
Skill Levels ◽  
Temporary Agency Work ◽  
Social Prestige ◽  
Poor Treatment ◽  
Incomplete Picture ◽  
Temporary Agency Workers

Research on temporary agency work emphasizes that temporary agency workers (TAWs), particularly those in low-skilled jobs associated with precariousness and low social prestige, are likely to be exposed to poor treatment, as well as stigmatization. On the contrary, stigmatization of TAWs in high-skilled jobs has not been treated in much detail in previous studies. Literature provides an incomplete picture of stigmatization within the broader field of temporary employment regarding the focus on low-skilled jobs. Hence, the present qualitative study is based on data from interviews of a heterogeneous sample of TAWs employed in low- and high-skilled jobs in Germany. By using and modifying Boyce and colleagues’ (2007) model of stigmatization, the study shows that stigmatizing treatment towards TAWs occurs across all skill levels, although the intensity and form of those experiences, as well as coping strategies, differ. Thereby, this study contributes to a more differentiated and skill level-specific understanding of how TAWs perceive and cope with stigmatization linked to their employment status. It also provides an important opportunity to advance Boyce and colleagues’ (2007) complex model of TAW stigmatization with empirical underpinnings.

Flexible resources and adaptable human beings – the identity of temporary agency workers

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 142-157
Author(s):  
Ingo Winkler ◽  
Mustafa Khalil Mahmood
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Temporary Agency Work ◽  
Flexible Resources ◽  
Related Identity ◽  
Temporary Agency Workers

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the work-related identity of temporary agency workers (TAWs), a topic that has received a limited amount of attention in previous research. Design/methodology/approach The study uses a qualitative method and draws upon interviews with 30 TAWs from four agencies in the south of Denmark in order to link the experiences, as narrated by Danish TAWs, to their identity. Findings The study unpacks the components of the TAWs’ work-related identity and provides an understanding of the self-notions that the TAWs mobilize to respond to the conditions of temporary agency work. It identifies six components of work-related identity: Being new and unfamiliar, demonstrating the ability to adapt, dealing with uncertainty, feeling inferior and marginalized, pursuing opportunities, and the necessity to impress others. Both the agency and the user-firm try to regulate the TAWs’ identity as they expect agency workers to be flexible and adaptable persons, who possess a high degree of self-control. In so doing they provide a template for identification that the workers have to respond to. The study shows that TAWs develop this identity along two dimensions: their liminal position between the agency and the user-firm; and prescribed identity templates as TAWs strive for autonomy and craft their own work-related identity. Practical implications There are managerial challenges with regard to motivation, tensions between temps and permanent staff, low levels of organizational commitment, well-being, and the performance of TAWs. These challenges can be better understood (and probably solved) when agencies and user-firms would take into account the agency workers’ struggle for identification. The paper demonstrates that the work-related identity of TAWs not only has consequences for their performance but also for their whole life. Furthermore, the constitution of agency workers as flexible resource has consequences for HRM in the user-firm. Originality/value The paper contributes to the limited amount of knowledge about the meanings that TAWs reflexively attach to themselves as they seek to make sense of the conditions of temporary agency work. Investigating their work-related identity helps to better understand the implications of temporary agency work based on the investigation of the agency workers’ experiences.

The Effect of Social Networking Sites’ Activities on Customers’ Well-Being

2016 ◽  
Vol 42 (7) ◽  
pp. 1086-1105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seonjeong (Ally) Lee
Keyword(s):  
Social Networking ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Hotel Industry ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Self Determination Theory ◽  
Psychological Needs ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Extant Literature ◽  
Number Of Customers ◽  
Practical Implications

With the growing number of customers engaged with social networking sites (SNSs), scholars have started investigating the effects of SNSs’ activities on customers’ well-being perceptions. However, the extant literature has not fully investigated SNSs’ activities that influenced customers’ well-being perceptions when customers shared their hotel experiences. This study explored the effectiveness of the well-being marketing to investigate SNSs’ activities that influenced customers’ psychological needs and impact of a sense of well-being on customers’ brand usage intent, based on self-determination theory in the context of the hotel industry. Results from this study provided theoretical and practical implications on the roles of SNS activities that led to customers’ well-being perceptions.

Employment status and employee service-oriented organizational citizenship behaviour

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Su-Fen Chiu ◽  
Shih-Tse Lin ◽  
Tzu-Shian Han
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Citizenship ◽  
Employment Status ◽  
Job Insecurity ◽  
Temporary Employment ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Temporary Employees ◽  
Customer Contact ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Internal Mobility ◽  
Service Oriented

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of employment status on service-oriented organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) of customer contact employees. The authors also investigate the mediating roles of internal mobility opportunity and job insecurity in the relationship between employment status and service-oriented OCB. Design/methodology/approach – A survey methodology was used and data were collected from a dyad-sample of 270 employees and their supervisors of one retail and one banking companies in Taiwan. Product-of-coefficients approach and bootstrapping were used to test the multiple mediating model. Findings – The results demonstrate that temporary employment related negatively to service-oriented OCB. Moreover, both internal mobility opportunity and job insecurity mediated the employment status – service-oriented OCB linkage. Research limitations/implications – This study has three limitations. First, this study examined only fixed-term direct-hire temporary employees. Future research should explore voluntary job behaviors of different categories of temporary employment to confirm the results of the present study. Second, this study examined internal mobility opportunity and job insecurity as two mediators. Other alternative avenues may exist by which employment status may lead to service-oriented OCB. Future research may explore additional possible mediators. Finally, the participants of this study were selected by the human resource departments of the participating companies. This option could have introduced selection bias in this study. Practical implications – This study suggests that management should be aware of why temporary customer contact employees have lower levels of service-oriented OCB. As service-oriented OCB may be vital for organizational success in the service context, management must consider the benefits and costs when hiring temporary employees. Moreover, management can motivate temporary employees to display higher service-oriented OCB by shaping their expectations of internal mobility possibilities, or reducing temporary employees’ perception of job insecurity to enhance their service-oriented OCB. Originality/value – This study makes two contributions. First, this study extends the effect of employment status in the OCB literature by investigating the relationship between employment status and service-oriented OCB for customer contact employees. The results of the present study lend support for the partial exclusion theory to predict that socially excluded group (i.e. temporary employees) tends to be less engaged in service-oriented OCB. Second, this study contributes to the literature by investigating two important links (i.e. internal mobility opportunity and job insecurity) to explain why temporary employment may lead to lower service-oriented OCB.

Employment contract, job insecurity and employees’ affective well-being: The role of self- and collective efficacy

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beatriz Sora ◽  
Thomas Höge ◽  
Amparo Caballer ◽  
José M Peiró
Keyword(s):  
Collective Efficacy ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Job Insecurity ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Temporary Employment ◽  
Employment Contract ◽  
Different Types ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Perceived Job Insecurity

A large amount of research has focused on job insecurity, but without obtaining consistent results. Some authors have pointed that this variability might be due to the operationalization of job insecurity. Different types of job insecurity can provoke different employee reactions. The aim of this study is to analyse the effect of job insecurity, understood as temporary employment (objective job insecurity) and personal perception (subjective job insecurity), on affective well-being. In addition, the moderator roles of job self-efficacy and collective efficacy are examined in the relationship between job insecurity and employees’ affective well-being. This study was carried out with 1435 employees from 138 Spanish and Austrian organizations. The results showed a different effect of job insecurity depending on its conceptualization. Only subjective job insecurity was negatively related to affective well-being. Moreover, both self- and collective efficacy moderated the subjective job insecurity–outcomes relation, ameliorating employees’ well-being levels when they perceived job insecurity.

scholarly journals Temporary employment, job satisfaction and subjective well-being

2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Dawson ◽  
Michail Veliziotis ◽  
Benjamin Hopkins
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Job Insecurity ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Job Security ◽  
Temporary Employment ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Panel Survey ◽  
Temporary Employees ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Using Data

This article is concerned with whether employees on temporary contracts in Britain report lower well-being than those on permanent contracts, and whether this relationship is mediated by differences in dimensions of job satisfaction. Previous research has identified a well-being gap between permanent and temporary employees but has not addressed what individual and contract specific characteristics contribute to this observed difference. Using data from the British Household Panel Survey, the article finds that a large proportion of the difference in self-reported well-being between permanent and temporary employees appears to be explained by differences in satisfaction with job security. Other dimensions of job satisfaction are found to be less important. In fact, after controlling for differences in satisfaction with security, the results suggest that temporary employees report higher psychological well-being and life satisfaction. This indicates that an employment contract characterized by a definite duration lowers individual well-being principally through heightened job insecurity.

Exploring the link between job insecurity and adaptive performance: a strategic analysis of the dynamics of stress, performance, and change

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Job Insecurity ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Adaptive Performance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Pertinent Information ◽  
Change Intensity ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Negative Link

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings This research paper concentrates on the relationship between an employee experiencing job insecurity and their level of adaptive performance (AP). The results revealed a negative link between job insecurity and AP only where core tasks remain in a state of low change intensity. However, where a high state of change was present, an insignificant link between job insecurity and AP was unexpectedly observed. Yet this finding should be used as justification to keep employees working in perpetual states of high change, since this predictably risks eroding their well-being. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

scholarly journals Explaining job insecurity for temporary agency workers: A comparison between Sweden and Belgium

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 254-275
Author(s):  
Kristina Håkansson ◽  
Valeria Pulignano ◽  
Tommy Isidorsson ◽  
Nadja Doerflinger
Keyword(s):  
Job Insecurity ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Case Study Methodology ◽  
National Regulation ◽  
Institutional Settings ◽  
Temporary Agency Work ◽  
Study Methodology ◽  
Cross National ◽  
Temporary Agency Workers

Current research has shed critical light on the insecurity characterizing temporary agency work. To understand how this insecurity is produced, this article shows that we have to go beyond national and industrial regulation and analyse how this regulation shapes workplace practices and access to a collective voice. Thus, connecting the national and workplace levels is crucial in understanding job insecurity for agency workers. Job insecurity is shaped not only by the type of contract; it is primarily formed by how the national regulation, inclusive of collective bargaining and representation structures, shapes the modalities in accordance to which temporary agency workers are used at workplaces. The article is based on a cross-national comparative case study methodology, and compares two similar workplaces in two different institutional settings, those of Sweden and Belgium.

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