Labour contracts in the European Union, 2000-2005: Differences among demographic groups and implications for the quality of working life and work satisfaction

Current theorizing holds that organizations may be less motivated to offer good work circumstances to temporary workers because the latter do not constitute the core of the organization. This implies that their quality of working life and work satisfaction could be lower than that of permanent workers. Therefore, it is potentially important to examine the prevalence and consequences of having temporary employment. The present study assessed changes in the prevalence of various employment contracts (i.e., permanent, fixed-term, and temporary agency contracts) between 2000/01 and 2005 within five EU country clusters, as well as its gender and age composition and its association with quality of working life and work satisfaction. Cross-sectional data were obtained for all current EU member states from the 2000/01 and 2005 European Working Conditions Surveys (total N=58,368). Overall the percentage of temporary workers (and particularly fixed-term contractors) increased, whereas especially younger and female workers were likely to hold a temporary contract. Multivariate analysis of variance showed the highest overall quality of working life and work satisfaction for permanent contractors and the lowest for temporary agency workers. These findings were largely independent of time and country cluster. Interventions targeting different labour market outcomes (such as the contract type people receive and the quality of their working life) are needed, both at the European/governmental and the organizational level.