Contract Staffing and Job Dissatisfaction in Selected Organisations in Port Harcourt City Rivers State, Nigeria

The spate at which organisations are adopting the dimension of contract employment is alarming and it violates the national industrial act. Hence, the need to investigate contract staffing and job dissatisfaction in selected organization in Rivers state capital, Port Harcourt city. Adopting the survey research design, a likert scale questionnaire was used to collect data from 399 respondents consisting of management and staff of Nigeria Agip Oil Company, MTN Nigeria and United Bank for Africa (UBA) using the multi-staged sampling procedure. Data collected was analysed using descriptive statistics. It was found out that the motivations for accepting contract staffing by respondents is due largely to the factors that include: dissatisfaction with level of income, the only employee in their respective families, loss of a job, unemployment, they are the breadwinners of their families; their pay in their present employment is poor, and lack of employment opportunities among other factors. Finally, it was revealed that the reasons for job dissatisfaction among contract staff include: not getting what others are getting in terms of pay ranked 1st; lack of promotion ranked 2nd; lack of improvement in skills ranked 3rd; not benefitting from any allowances from the organisation ranked 4th; reluctance to extend contract period on the expiration of existing one ranked 6th etc. Based on the study findings, there is need for government to enact laws and establish institutions that will ensure that employers abide by the statutory provisions put in place to protect the employee's right and dignity of work. This will address the loopholes in labour laws and stop employment practices that encourage contract staffing