Purpose: A major trend in the changing nature of work is the increasing use of temporary workers. Although common among students, older employees have joined the ranks of temporary workers as they extend their work lives. Temporary workers tend to report lower affective commitment and consequently poorer work outcomes. However, different generations of workers may conceive temporary work differently from each other. The purpose of this paper is to explore how different generations of temporary workers, respond to human resource practices (HRP), which in turn influences their affective commitment and work performance. Design/methodology/approach: The sample is comprised of 3,876 temporary agency workers (TAWs) from seven temporary employment agencies in Portugal. The authors undertook multiple group SEM analyses to test a moderated mediation model that accounts for TAWs’ affective commitment (toward the agency and the client company) across three generations (Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millennials) in the relationship between human resources practices and overall perceived performance. Findings: After controlling for gender, age and tenure, the authors find generational differences in the perceptions of HRP and perceived performance. The results support the moderator effect of generations in the direct and indirect relationships – through both affective commitments – between TAWs’ perceived HRP and perceived performance. Research limitations/implications: The cross-sectional design limits the possibility to make causal inferences. Originality/value: This study contributes to a better understanding of how different generations respond to temporary employment relationships. The findings suggest important differences in the way in which the same HRP system relates (directly and indirectly thorough affective commitment toward the client) with their perceived performance across different generations.

中文翻译：

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处理临时性

目的：工作性质变化的一个主要趋势是临时工的使用增加。尽管在学生中很常见，但是随着年龄的增长，他们的工作寿命也越来越长。临时工倾向于报告较低的情感投入，因此工作成果较差。但是，不同世代的工人对临时工作的设想可能彼此不同。本文的目的是探讨不同年龄的临时工如何应对人力资源实践（HRP），进而影响他们的情感投入和工作绩效。设计/方法/方法：样本由来自葡萄牙七个临时职业介绍所的3876名临时职业介绍所（TAW）组成。作者进行了多组SEM分析，以测试一个温和的调解模型，该模型说明了TAW在三代（婴儿潮一代，X一代和千禧一代）之间的情感承诺（对代理商和客户公司的情感承诺）在人力资源实践与总体之间的关系。感知性能。研究结果：在控制了性别，年龄和任期之后，作者发现HRP感知和绩效感知的代际差异。结果通过TAW的感知HRP和感知绩效之间的情感承诺，支持了世代在直接和间接关系中的调节作用。研究的局限性/含义：横截面设计限制了进行因果推理的可能性。创意/价值：这项研究有助于更好地了解不同年龄段的人如何应对临时雇佣关系。研究结果表明，相同的HRP系统（在对客户的直接和间接彻底的情感承诺）与其在不同代之间的感知性能之间的联系方式存在重要差异。