The unseen costs of flexible working : Why using temporary contract workers can strain workgroup relationships

Purpose To examine the impact of employing temporary contract workers (“temps”) alongside permanent employees on the social capital of the organization. Design/methodology/approach Uses discourse analysis to analyze data from semi-structured interviews with both temporary workers and permanent employees in a range of occupations at seven companies in different industries in Finland. Findings Agency workers, temporary workers or just “temps” – call them what you like, but reliance on individuals employed on a short-term contract basis appears to be here to stay. Since the 1990s, the use of temps has doubled across Europe and is still rising. The argument is that this provides the employer with a cheaper, more flexible workforce. But asking temporary and permanent employees to work together has a significant impact on the social fabric of the organization. Practical implications Suggests that human resource managers review contracts with agencies providing temporary workers. Notes that practices that leave temps feeling like “second-class citizens” can damage the social fabric of the workgroup and undermine team effectiveness. Social implications Highlights potentially harmful effects on social capital and organizational performance resulting from an unequal treatment of temps and permanent employees doing the same job within a workgroup. Originality/value A qualitative study focusing on the feelings and emotions evoked by the growing use of temporary contract workers from the viewpoint of both the temps and the permanent employees they work with.