Investigating differences in job-related attitudes between full-time and part-time employees in the foodservice industry

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine differences of the perceived internal marketing practices (IMP), job satisfaction (JS), organizational commitment (OC) and turnover intention (TI) between full- and part-time employees and to incorporate employment status as a moderator in the restaurant employee turnover model. Design/methodology/approach: The target population included current restaurant full- or part-time employees in the USA. The questionnaire was distributed to potential participants through an online survey that the company used to collect nationwide data. Findings: Full-time employees’ perceptions of the IMP were comparably greater than those of part-time employees, and full-time employees were also more committed to the organization and had less intention to leave than their part-time counterparts. Significant moderating effects of employment status existed in the restaurant employee turnover model. Research limitations/implications: The current study may not adequately capture the differences between full- and part-time employees by asking respondents to identify their employment status. Practical implications: IMP should be facilitated at the management level to provide insight and value to their employees, and more attention and effort in the internal marketing and human resource practices for part-time employees are needed to have more satisfied and committed employees, and, in turn, better performance. Originality/value: The literature on full- and part-time employees was incomplete, and there was minimal research that tested differences between full- and part-time employees in the foodservice industry.