Motivations, psychological contract and commitment of contingent workers: a survey among a Belgian population

One of the dominant trends in the labor force during the 1990s has been the increase in the number of contingent (or temporary) employees. The fact that contingents work for two organizations simultaneously (the agency and the client organization) makes the development of the employment relationship more complex and raises new scientific questions : how do contingent workers identify and are committed simultaneously to two organizations? do they include distinct components in each employment relationships? The purpose of the current investigation was to explore the extent to which contingents develop a specific psychological contract with their agencies and client organizations and, therefore, tend to be distinctively committed to these two entities. A second purpose was to analyse the role of volition and motivation in the development of this dual employment relationship. We hypothesized that involuntary contingents motivated by getting a permanent job would develop a relational psychological contract with the client organization, associated to higher commitment, and a more transactional contract with the agency. On the contrary, workers having chosen contingent work arrangement as a way of life would be more committed to the agency than to the client organization because they would develop a relational contact with the agency and a transactional contract with the client organization. These hypotheses were tested on a sample of 99 Belgian contingent workers, using a cross-sectional survey. Motivations, psychological contract and organizational commitment were assessed on Likert scales used in previous scientific studies. Statistical analyses tend to support our hypotheses and show that contingents motivated by flexibility and autonomy are more demanding and involved towards the agency, although contingents motivated by experiments acquisition and reinforcement of employability are more psychologically engaged towards the client organization. These results contribute to highlight the diversity of contingents work profiles and to overcome the simplistic opposition between permanent and temporary workers.