The use of agency temps in the workplace has been the subject of considerable research interest, much of it focused on the effects that using temps have on the job attitudes of regular employees. We advance this stream of research by examining the effects of using agency temps on business performance. We find first that, when otherwise identical workplaces make greater use of temporary help provided by agencies, the identification of the employee or “regular” workforce with their workplace declines because the perceived status of the workplace declines. This, in turn, leads to lower store-level service quality and sales. This effect is independent of the notion suggested in earlier studies that temp workers threaten the job security and opportunities for advancement of regular employees. Finally, we find that these negative effects can be mitigated by workplace-level strategies associated with shared instrumental values and social integration practices. We examine these relationships using a range of employee- and store-level data sources over time from a retail chain.

中文翻译：

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使用代理员工损害业务绩效：一个综合的间接模型

在工作场所使用代理临时工一直是一个具有相当研究兴趣的主题，其中大部分集中在使用临时工对正式员工的工作态度的影响上。我们通过检查使用代理临时工对业务绩效的影响来推进这一研究流。我们首先发现，当其他相同的工作场所更多地使用机构提供的临时帮助时，员工或“普通”员工对其工作场所的认同感会下降，因为工作场所的感知地位下降。反过来，这会导致商店级别的服务质量和销售额降低。这种影响与早期研究中提出的临时工威胁到正式员工的工作保障和晋升机会的观点无关。最后，我们发现，这些负面影响可以通过与共享工具价值观和社会融合实践相关的工作场所战略来减轻。我们使用零售连锁店随时间推移的一系列员工和商店级数据源来检查这些关系。