ABSTRACT
Temporary employment is ubiquitous in European organizations, and there is a growing literature concerning its impact on productivity and well-being at work. There is, however, a lack of current knowledge on how temporary workers experience the interface between work and private life. This chapter fills the gap by studying the influence of temporary jobs on the experienced balance between work and private life, and the extent to which job insecurity and job strain can explain this relationship. The study also addresses the extent to which two common organizational strategies in using temporary employment, namely, as incidental labour and as recruitment tool for prospective permanent workers, conditions temporary workers’ experience of insecurity, strain, and work–life balance. The findings show that temporary employees experience higher levels of work–life balance than permanent workers, but job insecurity mediates a negative indirect effect from temporary employment on work–life balance. This negative mediation effect is weaker in organizational contexts where the strategic goal in using temporary employment is to recruit long-term permanent workers. The chapter highlights the importance of considering the interplay between job characteristics and the organizational context in the study of work experiences and outcomes.
