Externalization motives and temporary versus permanent employee psychological well-being: A multilevel analysis

Abstract

This study aims to investigate whether the association between the externalization motives of an organization and the psychological well-being of an employee differs between permanent employees and temporary employees. Surveys were administered to 2598 employees (1566 permanent and 1032 temporary) within 80 organizations located in five European countries. Multilevel analyses were used to test the hypotheses. The results show that the psychological well-being of employees is differentially related to the hiring of temporary employees for reactive restructuring motives compared with anticipatory support motives, such that the psychological well-being of permanent employees is positively associated with the hiring of temporary employees for anticipatory support motives but negatively associated with the hiring of temporary employees for reactive restructuring motives. Externalization motives are only weakly associated with the psychological well-being of temporary employees. The moderating role of the type of contract on the relationship between externalization motives and psychological well-being reveals the importance of future research on the relation between externalization strategies and the psychological well-being of permanent and temporary employees in blended workforces.