Amparo Caballer

Organizations’ Use of Temporary Employment and a Climate of Job Insecurity among Belgian and Spanish Permanent Workers

Extensive use of temporary employment may create a climate of job insecurity among permanent workers in a specific organization. This climate is likely conditional upon the proportion of temporary workers in the organization, and upon the reasons for hiring temporary workers. The percentage of temporary workers may relate to permanent workers’ shared perceptions of job insecurity. Employers’ motives for hiring temporary workers may relate to permanent workers’ perceptions of job insecurity when these motives threaten the position of permanent workers. Conversely, the relationship with a climate of job insecurity is likely negative when the organization hires temporary workers to support permanent workers. Analyses are based on samples of Belgian (N = 216) and Spanish (N = 404) permanent workers among 14 and 29 organizations, respectively. The results show a positive relationship between the percentage of temporary workers and a climate of job insecurity among permanent workers. Few motives were predictive for permanent workers’ climate of job insecurity. The findings are interpreted with reference to the specific Belgian and Spanish context.

Moderating influence of organizational justice on the relationship between job insecurity and its outcomes: A multilevel analysis

A great amount of research has illustrated the evident prevalence of job insecurity in working life and its harmful outcomes for employees and organizations. Some authors have identified factors that can reduce this negative influence. However, up until now, most of these factors have only been studied at an individual level, without taking into account the fact that contextual conditions can play a moderating role in organizations. Following this perspective, this article analyses the moderator role of organizational justice and organizational justice climate in the relationship between job insecurity and its outcomes. The study was carried out with a sample of 942 employees from 47 Spanish organizations and a subsample composed of 597 employees from 29 of these organizations. The results showed that both organizational justice and organizational justice climate moderated the relationship between job insecurity and job satisfaction and intention to leave the organization.