Psychological, social and economical consequences of temporary work: An empirical survey.

Uncertainty, mobility, and opportunity are some of the concepts to describe work in today’s flexible and rapidly changing/evolving society. Past working conditions – namely remaining in just one organization throughout life – are nowadays turning into great instability and insecurity, although there may be, depending on the situation, more opportunities for personal initiative and autonomy. This two-fold aspect is typical of societies, which, after an “open-ended employment era”, are known as a “society of jobs” to differentiate them from the so-called “society of work” of the past. Greater economic energy and flexibility has certainly created conditions enabling organizations to be more competitive as well as offering better opportunities for the employees. However, these changes determine an increase in uncertainty, instability and risk for the workers, which lead to a subsequent rise of stress and anxiety. This is particularly true for those workers who are less prepared and competent, and therefore more vulnerable. In the past researchers used to study the effects of repetitive and monotonous work, namely adjustment disorders, demotivation and dissatisfaction; today they study the effects of uncertainty and flexibility. Within this framework, this study aims to investigate – using an empirical survey on a sample of 106 Italian tertiary workers – the effects that temporary contracts may have on workers’ and organizations’ well-being. Particular attention has been given to studying in depth the effects of employment contracts – taking into consideration their type, whether the worker had a choice and whether the contract could eventually be turned into an open-end one – on some individual and organizational variables such as collective efficacy/efficiency, absenteeism/turnover, perceived organizational support, commitment, organizational citizenship, strain, burnout and mobbing. The results indicate some of the effects of temporary work on individual and organizational well-being. They may be useful in outlining some potential operative guidelines for management, designed to foster the sustainability of different forms of temporary work.