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Article
Publication date: 1 January 2006

Daniel C. Feldman

The main goal of this article is to present a new taxonomy of contingent employment that better represents the wide variety of part‐time, temporary, and contract employment

2648

Abstract

Purpose

The main goal of this article is to present a new taxonomy of contingent employment that better represents the wide variety of part‐time, temporary, and contract employment arrangements that have emerged since Feldman's review.

Design/methodology/approach

Reviews the literature over the past 15 years.

Findings

The paper suggests that contingent work arrangements can be arrayed along three dimensions: time, space, and the number/kind of employers. In addition, analysis of the recent research on contingent employment should be expanded to include worker timeliness, responsiveness, job embeddedness, citizenship behaviours, quality of work, and social integration costs.

Originality/value

The article suggests that a wider range of individual differences (including education, race, citizenship, career stage, and rational demography) all serve to moderate the relationships between different kinds of contingent work arrangements and outcome variables.

Details

Career Development International, vol. 11 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1362-0436

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 2013

Sugumar Mariappanadar

The purpose of this paper is to explore the extent to which perceived financial preparedness, social retirement anxieties, and level of income influence mature aged workers'…

1455

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the extent to which perceived financial preparedness, social retirement anxieties, and level of income influence mature aged workers' preferences to enter different retirement employment options within the contingent and the flexible work arrangements (FWA) types of bridge employment.

Design/methodology/approach

Data for this study was collected in 2008 using a questionnaire with 31 items. A total of 144 mature aged workers from multiple firms, aged 50 years and over, working full‐time, in the construction industry participated in the study. The collected data was analysed using correlation and regression analyses.

Findings

The results indicate that the study variables have positive and negative influences on pre‐retirees' preference for the retirement employment options within the contingent and the FWA bridge employment. It was also found that while income failed to moderate, social retirement anxieties did significantly moderate the relationship between perceived financial preparedness and the different employment options within the contingent bridge employment.

Practical implications

This study clearly provides practitioners and career counsellors a new insight that the work and non‐work predictors for the retirement employment options within each of the contingent and the FWA bridge employments vary between factors of perceived financial preparedness, social retirement anxieties and level of income.

Originality/value

In contradiction to the existing literature that “comfortable” social retirement adjustment as a determinant for bridge employment, this study's findings revealed that if pre‐retirees perceive that they are not adequately financially prepared for retirement, they would opt for bridge employment irrespective of levels of social retirement anxieties.

Article
Publication date: 12 June 2007

Chris Forde and Robert MacKenzie

The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of contingent labour in the construction and civil engineering sector in the UK.

2372

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of contingent labour in the construction and civil engineering sector in the UK.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents the findings of a national postal survey of employment practices within the UK construction and civil engineering sector. The survey was conducted in 2002 and covered firms of all sizes within the sector. This technique has been supplemented with in‐depth interviews to provide a deeper understanding of the issues raised.

Findings

The paper finds that employers' use of contingent labour is widespread and that in many cases, the use of contingent labour has increased over recent years. It is argued that recourse to the use of contingent labour may increasingly be a constrained choice for employers, reflecting overall labour shortages and recruitment difficulties in the sector. The paper also finds that the use of contingent labour contributes to skills shortages in the industry, with the scope of training offered to workers on these contract forms being limited in nature.

Originality/value

The paper reveals the complex relationship between the use of contingent labour and ongoing skills shortages in the sector. The paper concludes that the cycle of turning to contingent labour in response to recruitment difficulties does not replenish the skill profile of the sector and therefore offers no long‐term solution to the skills shortages within the construction industry.

Details

Personnel Review, vol. 36 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0048-3486

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 April 2017

Laura Madden, Deborah Kidder, Kimberly Eddleston, Barrie Litzky and Franz Kellermanns

The purpose of this paper is to examine the differential effects of workplace stress and the use of social support by contingent vs standard employees.

1041

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the differential effects of workplace stress and the use of social support by contingent vs standard employees.

Design/methodology/approach

Conservation of resources (COR) theory is used to frame research questions. Using content analysis of 40 interviews from individuals in the hospitality industry, differences between the levels of stress reported by contingent and standard employees as well as differences in their use of social support networks to offset stress is examined.

Findings

Contingent employees report experiencing more stress than do standard employees in the same profession. Furthermore, contingent employees seek out more social support than do standard employees. There was no difference between the two groups with respect to the desire for social support from three sources: vertical, horizontal, and customer groups.

Originality/value

This study extends the literature on contingent workers, the literature on how different types of employees deal with stress, as well as adding to the COR literature by showing that contingent employees experience and assuage their stress differently than do standard employees.

Details

Personnel Review, vol. 46 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0048-3486

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 October 2021

Sayoni Santra

This paper aims to illustrate a simple, holistic overview of contingent workforce management.

878

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to illustrate a simple, holistic overview of contingent workforce management.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper’s viewpoint outlines benefits and challenges that employers and employees encounter with contingent work arrangements and highlights relevant human resource (HR) practices to effectively manage contingent workforce.

Findings

Benefits to employers are cost-effective hiring solutions, filling-up skill requirements, increasing numerical flexibility and diversity and broadened talent pool. Challenges include legal ramifications, hidden costs, confidentiality and security issues, low organisational commitment and productivity. For employees, benefits are working flexibility and financial gain and gaining work experience. Challenges include dependence on economy, irregular work hours, health risks and exploitation and differential treatment by employers. “Value-adding” practices of holistic hiring, onboarding, performance management, workplace training and developing resilient organisational culture can effectively manage contingent workforce.

Research limitations/implications

This paper provides a broader outline of benefits and challenges, both from employers’ and employees’ perspectives, linked with precarious employment. Further investigations on employers’ and employee’s perspectives based on specific types of contingent work arrangements (e.g. temporary agency workers and gig workers) can give in-depth insights.

Originality/value

This paper provides a simplified framework of pros and cons of contingent employment, along with practical HR remedies to manage contingent workforce.

Details

Strategic HR Review, vol. 20 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1475-4398

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 29 March 2021

Liang Zhang, Ronald Ehrenberg and Xiangmin Liu

We use panel data models to examine variations and changes in faculty employment at four-year colleges and universities in the United States. The share of part-time faculty among…

Abstract

We use panel data models to examine variations and changes in faculty employment at four-year colleges and universities in the United States. The share of part-time faculty among total faculty has continued to grow during the last two decades, while the share of full-time lecturers and instructors has been relatively stable. Meanwhile, the share of nontenure track faculty among full-time faculty has been growing, especially among the professorial ranks. Dynamic panel data models suggest that employment levels of different types of faculty respond to a variety of economic and institutional factors. Colleges and universities have increasingly employed faculty whose salaries and benefits are relatively inexpensive; the slowly deteriorating financial situations at most colleges and universities have led to an increasing reliance on a contingent academic workforce. A cross-sectional comparison of the share of full-time nontenure track faculty also reveals significant variations across institutions.

Article
Publication date: 18 September 2019

Daniel Johnson and Christopher J. Lake

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between pay satisfaction, global job satisfaction, loyalty and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) – as they all…

1142

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between pay satisfaction, global job satisfaction, loyalty and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) – as they all pertain to contingent workers. The proposed model suggests, due to the nature of contingent work, pay satisfaction will influence the above variables. Additionally, this study aims to explore the relationship between pay satisfaction and OCB directed toward an individual employee.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used a cross-sectional research design, administering a web-based survey to the participants (n=117) for data collection. Hierarchical regression, correlation and relative importance analyses were used for hypothesis testing.

Findings

The results suggest pay satisfaction of contingent workers is positively related to global job satisfaction, loyalty to a hiring agency, loyalty to a client company and OCB directed toward a client organization.

Originality/value

The primary contribution of the current study was the assessment of extrinsic rewards and their relationship to job satisfaction, loyalty and OCBs among contingent workers. This appears to be the first study to assess the relationship between pay satisfaction and loyalty, along with OCBs of contingent workers. The findings establish the importance of pay when loyalty to both staffing agency and client company is considered.

Book part
Publication date: 30 December 2004

Cynthia L. Gramm and John F. Schnell

Traditionally, hiring indefinite duration contract employees has been the dominant method used by U.S. organizations to staff their labor needs. Indefinite duration contract…

Abstract

Traditionally, hiring indefinite duration contract employees has been the dominant method used by U.S. organizations to staff their labor needs. Indefinite duration contract employees, hereafter referred to as “regular” employees, have three defining characteristics: (1) they are hired directly as employees of the organization whose work they perform; (2) the duration of the employment relationship is unspecified, with a mutual expectation that it will continue as long as it is mutually satisfactory; and (3) the employment relationship provides ongoing – as opposed to intermittent – work. When their demand for labor increases, organizations staffed exclusively by regular employees can respond by having their employees work overtime or by hiring additional regular employees. Conversely, when their demand for labor decreases, such organizations can either maintain “inventories” of excess regular employees or reduce labor inputs by laying-off or reducing the work hours of regular employees.

Details

Advances in Industrial & Labor Relations
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-305-1

Article
Publication date: 23 August 2011

Vlad Vaiman, Jeanette Lemmergaard and Ana Azevedo

This paper seeks to challenge the claim that traditional and non‐traditional employees differ significantly in terms of their needs, personality characteristics, and work…

6541

Abstract

Purpose

This paper seeks to challenge the claim that traditional and non‐traditional employees differ significantly in terms of their needs, personality characteristics, and work motivation patterns, by surveying management consultants in Canada.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is based on a quantitative online survey undertaken among 204 Canadian management consultants in 2008, representing both traditional employed consultants, contingent consultants, and company representatives.

Findings

The study demonstrated no significant differences with regard to needs, motivation, and personality characteristics between traditional and non‐traditional employed management consultants, which means that no significant changes to existing human resource management policies seem to be needed.

Originality/value

The existing literature on contingent employees' needs, personality characteristics and work motivation has mainly been devoted to the study of differences between traditional and non‐traditional work arrangements seen as single groups. This study extends and complements the understanding of the underlying dimensions of both the explicit and the implicit contract within the contingent management consultant‐organization relationship in order to explain the influence of these dimensions on the human resource management strategies. The underlying assumption is that non‐traditional work arrangements vary according to the type of job and the context in which the job is performed.

Details

Team Performance Management: An International Journal, vol. 17 no. 5/6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1352-7592

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 27 December 2022

Jana Retkowsky, Sanne Nijs, Jos Akkermans, Paul Jansen and Svetlana N. Khapova

The purpose of this paper is to provide a synthesis of the contingent work field and to advocate a sustainable career perspective on contingent work.

4554

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a synthesis of the contingent work field and to advocate a sustainable career perspective on contingent work.

Design/methodology/approach

Adopting a broader review approach allowed to synthesize the contingent work literature across contingent work types (temporary agency work, gig work and freelance work) and develop a sustainable career perspective on contingent work. The authors searched for empirical, conceptual and review articles published from 2008 to December 2021. In total, the authors included 208 articles.

Findings

The authors advocate a sustainable career perspective that allows for organizing and synthesizing the fragmented contingent work literature. Adopting a sustainable career perspective enables to study contingent work from a dynamic perspective transcending one single organization.

Originality/value

The field is suffering from fragmentation and most importantly from an oversight of how contingent work experiences play a role in a persons’ career. This paper addresses this problem by adopting a sustainable career perspective on contingent work.

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