Differences Among Nonstandard Workers and Perceived Job Security and Work Attitudes of Standard Employees

Abstract

Over the last three decades many organizations have adopted personnel strategies involving increased reliance on nonstandard workers—part-timers, independent contractors, employment agency hires, and temporary or contingent workers. While the use of nonstandard workers can provide firms with increased flexibility, some studies have suggested that it may have negative effects on the work attitudes of standard employees. Most extant research on this issue, however, has been based on very small samples of firms and has not systematically explored the impact of the use of different types of nonstandard workers on the work attitudes and job security perceptions of regular employees. In this study we use data from the 2004 British Workplace and Employment Relations Survey, gathered from a matched sample of employees and employers across a wide range of industries, occupations, and work settings, to investigate this problem. We argue that the effects of the increasing use of nonstandard workers on standard workers’ attitudes are likely to be mediated by their influence on workers’ perceived job security. In line with this, our results indicate that while organizations’ use of temporary workers adversely affects standard workers’ loyalty, job satisfaction, and perceptions of manager-employee relations because of threats to their perceived job security, the use of part-time workers has no such effect. A policy implication is that organizations should exercise caution in integrating different types of temporary workers into their employment systems.