Broken Promises: Consequences of Continuous Extension of Involuntary Temporary Employment Status

Given increasing uncertainty in the global business environment, the use of temporary employment in organizations has increased significantly in the last decade in the Europe, North America and Asia. Adopting a 'psychological contract perspective', we examined the attitudinal and behavioural consequences when the promises of permanent employment to temporary employees are broken repeatedly. Past research has focused mainly on the organizational benefits of using temporary employees. In contrast, the results of our empirical study indicated that continuous extension of involuntary temporary status resulted in lower self-reported and co-worker-rated organizational citizenship behaviours, higher self-reported and co-worker ratings of job neglect, and increased turnover intentions. The implications of psychological contract breach in terms of managing a temporary workforce are discussed.