IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i21p11154-d663427.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Temporary Agency Work and Well-Being—The Mediating Role of Job Insecurity

Author

Listed:
  • Birgit Thomson

    (Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin (BAuA/Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health), Friedrich-Henkel-Weg 1-25, D-44149 Dortmund, Germany)

  • Lena Hünefeld

    (Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin (BAuA/Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health), Friedrich-Henkel-Weg 1-25, D-44149 Dortmund, Germany)

Abstract

Organisations use non-standard employment as a means of flexibility and reduction of fixed costs. An increasingly growing group of employees are self-employed, have work contracts such as part-time and temporary contracts or are employed by a temporary agency, a development catalysed by the COVID pandemic. Whereas there is some evidence that temporary work might affect health via job insecurity (JI) there are hardly any studies focussing on the effects and mechanisms of temporary agency work (TAW). This study sheds light on TAW’s potential health impact and the role of JI in this respect using a mediation analysis. Based on the BIBB/BAuA-Employment Survey 2018 (N = 20.021, representative of the German working population), we analysed the direct effect of TAW on cognitive and psychosomatic aspects of well-being. In particular, we considered JI as mediator for this association. In line with the potentially detrimental effects of temporary employment on well-being, we found that TAW was related to unfavourable outcomes in terms of job satisfaction, general health status and musculoskeletal complaints. JI partially mediated all three underlying associations. Organisations need to be flexible and adaptable. However, by using temporary agency employment as a means to achieve this flexibility, managers and leaders should be aware that it is related to unfavourable well-being and hence hidden costs. In using this type of employment, both the temporary work agency and the user company should consider these health risks by providing health care, options for increasing the temporary agency workers (TA), workers employability, and equal treatment between permanent and TA workers at the actual workplace.

Suggested Citation

  • Birgit Thomson & Lena Hünefeld, 2021. "Temporary Agency Work and Well-Being—The Mediating Role of Job Insecurity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-16, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:21:p:11154-:d:663427
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/21/11154/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/21/11154/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael Kvasnicka & Axel Werwatz, 2003. "Arbeitsbedingungen und Perspektiven von Zeitarbeitern," DIW Wochenbericht, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 70(46), pages 717-725.
    2. Elke Jahn, 2015. "Don't Worry, be Flexible? - Job Satisfaction among Flexible Workers," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 18(2), pages 147-168.
    3. Henna Busk & Christine Dauth & Elke J. Jahn, 2017. "Do Changes in Regulation Affect Temporary Agency Workers’ Job Satisfaction?," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(3), pages 514-544, July.
    4. Jahoda,Marie, 1982. "Employment and Unemployment," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521285865.
    5. von dem Knesebeck, Olaf & Verde, Pablo E. & Dragano, Nico, 2006. "Education and health in 22 European countries," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(5), pages 1344-1351, September.
    6. Becker, Karina & Engel, Thomas, 2015. "Reduziertes Schutzniveau jenseits der Normalarbeit," WSI-Mitteilungen, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 68(3), pages 178-186.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Eleni D. Rompoti & Alexis D. Ioannides, 2023. "“Pseudo-Contracted” Workers as a Means of Bypassing Labour Law in Greece," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-27, November.
    2. Paula Franklin & Wouter Zwysen & Agnieszka Piasna, 2022. "Temporal Dimensions of Job Quality and Gender: Exploring Differences in the Associations of Working Time and Health between Women and Men," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(8), pages 1-18, April.
    3. Virginia Gunn & Bertina Kreshpaj & Nuria Matilla-Santander & Emilia F. Vignola & David H. Wegman & Christer Hogstedt & Emily Q. Ahonen & Theo Bodin & Cecilia Orellana & Sherry Baron & Carles Muntaner , 2022. "Initiatives Addressing Precarious Employment and Its Effects on Workers’ Health and Well-Being: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-35, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Andrew E. Clark, 2018. "Four Decades of the Economics of Happiness: Where Next?," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 64(2), pages 245-269, June.
    2. Grund, Christian & Minten, Axel & Toporova, Nevena, 2017. "The Motivation of Temporary Agency Workers: An Empirical Analysis," IZA Discussion Papers 11229, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. René Petilliot, 2018. "How important is the type of working contract for job satisfaction of agency workers?," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 65(3), pages 359-379, September.
    4. Sonia Nawrocka & Hans De Witte & Margherita Pasini & Margherita Brondino, 2023. "A Person-Centered Approach to Job Insecurity: Is There a Reciprocal Relationship between the Quantitative and Qualitative Dimensions of Job Insecurity?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(7), pages 1-27, March.
    5. Haobin Fan & Xuanyi Nie, 2020. "Impacts of Layoffs and Government Assistance on Mental Health during COVID-19: An Evidence-Based Study of the United States," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-23, September.
    6. Blanco, M. & Dalton, P.S. & Vargas, J.F., 2013. "Does the Unemployement Benefit Institution Affect the Productivity of Workers? Evidence from a Field Experiment," Other publications TiSEM ba37e033-06ab-4fc3-b56e-9, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    7. Lídia Farré & Francesco Fasani & Hannes Mueller, 2018. "Feeling useless: the effect of unemployment on mental health in the Great Recession," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 7(1), pages 1-34, December.
    8. Paul Schumann & Lars Kuchinke, 2020. "Do(n’t) Worry, It’s Temporary: The Effects of Fixed-Term Employment on Affective Well-Being," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(7), pages 2557-2582, October.
    9. Nils Lerch, 2018. "The Causal Analysis of the Development of the Unemployment Effect on Life Satisfaction," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 991, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    10. Israel Escudero-Castillo & Fco. Javier Mato-Díaz & Ana Rodriguez-Alvarez, 2021. "Furloughs, Teleworking and Other Work Situations during the COVID-19 Lockdown: Impact on Mental Well-Being," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-16, March.
    11. Concetta Russo & Marco Terraneo, 2020. "Mental Well-being Among Workers: A Cross-national Analysis of Job Insecurity Impact on the Workforce," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 152(2), pages 421-442, November.
    12. Trine Filges & Anu Siren & Torben Fridberg & Bjørn C. V. Nielsen, 2020. "Voluntary work for the physical and mental health of older volunteers: A systematic review," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(4), December.
    13. Farrukh Shahzad & Fahad Saleem & Qaiser Iqbal & Naheed Haque & Sajjad Haider & Muhammad Salman & Imran Masood & Mohamed Azmi Hassali & Shehla Iftikhar & Mohammad Bashaar & Tafseera Hashemi, 2018. "A Cross-Sectional Assessment of Health Literacy among Hypertensive Community of Quetta City, Pakistan," Biomedical Journal of Scientific & Technical Research, Biomedical Research Network+, LLC, vol. 11(4), pages 8685-8693, December.
    14. Lars Kunze & Nicolai Suppa, 2014. "Bowling Alone or Bowling at All? The Effect of Unemployment on Social Participation," Ruhr Economic Papers 0510, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
    15. Laura Langner, 2022. "Desperate Housewives and Happy Working Mothers: Are Parent-Couples with Equal Income More Satisfied throughout Parenthood? A Dyadic Longitudinal Study," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 36(1), pages 80-100, February.
    16. Laura M. Wade-Bohleber & Carmen Duss & Aureliano Crameri & Agnes von Wyl, 2020. "Associations of Social and Psychological Resources with Different Facets of Chronic Stress: A Study with Employed and Unemployed Adolescents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(14), pages 1-17, July.
    17. Hafid Ballafkih & Joop Zinsmeister & Martha Meerman, 2017. "A Job and a Sufficient Income Is Not Enough: The Needs of the Dutch Precariat," SAGE Open, , vol. 7(4), pages 21582440177, December.
    18. Dominik Stroukal, 2016. "A longitudinal analysis of the effect of unemployment on health," International Journal of Economic Sciences, International Institute of Social and Economic Sciences, vol. 5(2), pages 55-68, June.
    19. Farzin, Y. Hossein & Akao, Ken-Ichi, 2005. "Non-pecuniary Work Incentive and Labor Supply," Working Papers 190910, University of California, Davis, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
    20. Carl Hult & Jonas Edlund, 2008. "Age and labour market commitment in Germany, Denmark, Norway and Sweden," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 22(1), pages 109-128, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:21:p:11154-:d:663427. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.