Liking your Job or Liking your Supervisor: A Study of Turnover Intentions in Temporary Work

Abstract

This paper presents our findings from an empirical survey of 598 individuals placed by a German temporary work agency. Specifically, we focus on how differences in the job satisfaction of temporary and permanent workers influence the role that leader-member exchange (LMX) relationships can play on employees’ turnover intentions. Our results suggest that while for permanent employees, high-quality LMX relationships play a central role in the linkage between job satisfaction and turnover intention, for temporary employees, job satisfaction is less important in the formation of high-quality LMX relationships. Therefore, temporary work inhibits the reinforcing role of LMX in the job satisfaction – turnover intention relationship.