Work stress, organizational commitment, and career plans among contingent workers

Abstract

Seniority and permanent employment systems of Japanese companies have been gradually eroded by recent drastic changes in the business environment. Many companies have begun to recognize the importance of utilization of contingent man power to attain their managerial goals. The purpose of this study is to investigate the characteristics of work stress, organizational commitment, and career plans of contingent workers. A questionnaire survey was conducted for 243 contingent and 163 full-time workers. The results showed that:(1) the contingent workers are exposed to work stressors (role ambiguity and conflict) more frequently and experience stronger depressional feelings than the fulltime workers, (2) the contingent workers have weaker organizational commitment than the full-time workers, and (3) intention of turnover is closely related to the extent of organizational commitment for both groups. The authors conclude that the mental and physical work conditions of contingent workers are not as good as we tend to expect to be. The authors suggest that contingent workers' confidence in their own professional skills and knowledge should play an important role to maintain their health conditions and vocational identity.