TY - JOUR AB - Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to explore an expanded temporal context of non‐permanent work through an examination of the influence of previous experience of temporary working, contract duration and time remaining on contract and expectations of continued employment on reports of job insecurity, job satisfaction, in‐role performance and organisational commitment.Design/methodology/approach– Hypotheses were tested using responses of 1,169 temporary workers from a multi‐national, cross‐sectional questionnaire study.Findings– Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that having previous experience of temporary work was associated with higher in‐role performance. No significant effects were found for contract duration, but shorter time remaining on present contract was associated with greater job insecurity and also greater in‐role performance. However the strongest effects were found for expectations of continued employment, with stronger expectations being linked to more positive reports of each outcome. A number of moderation effects were found that indicated interactions between temporal variables and revealed a moderating role of preference for temporary work.Originality/value– The paper is one of the first to formally consider the influence of a broader temporal context on attitudes and behaviours of temporary workers. Significant associations were found between elements relating to each of the past, present and future and important individual and organisational variables in the present. These effects were sustained above and beyond the influence of variables such as country, sector, preferences, skill level, contract type, and demographics that are known to affect temporary workers' attitudes and behaviours. VL - 16 IS - 2 SN - 1362-0436 DO - 10.1108/13620431111115596 UR - https://doi.org/10.1108/13620431111115596 AU - Clinton Michael AU - Bernhard‐Oettel Claudia AU - Rigotti Thomas AU - de Jong Jeroen ED - Nele De Cuyper ED - Hans De Witte ED - Hetty Van Emmerik PY - 2011 Y1 - 2011/01/01 TI - Expanding the temporal context of research on non‐permanent work: Previous experience, duration of and time remaining on contracts and employment continuity expectations T2 - Career Development International PB - Emerald Group Publishing Limited SP - 114 EP - 139 Y2 - 2024/04/19 ER -