5. Motivations for and satisfaction with temporary work

Do people work in temporary jobs primarily because they prefer to do so, or because they are not able to obtain a suitable permanent job? The SoWL included a number of questions that shed some light on the question of the extent to which temporary jobs are undertaken on an involuntary basis.

5.1 Reasons for working in a temporary job

Temporary employees were asked to give their reasons for doing temporary or seasonal work in the SoWL. The question was open-ended, and multiple responses were recorded if given. The results are summarised in table 13. The responses were diverse, with no single reason dominating. Thirteen percent indicated that they were in a temporary job because they were not able to find a permanent job, or said that they hoped or expected their temporary job to become permanent. Nine percent indicated that they worked in a temporary job for family reasons, for example to manage childcare responsibilities, or because of certain family obligations or family circumstances. Twenty four percent said they worked in a temporary job because they were studying, or wanted to gain work experience. Fifteen percent gave lifestyle reasons, such as only wanting to work for a short period of time, or enjoying the variety that short-term jobs offer. Nine percent cited financial reasons, such as the money being better in their temporary job. One percent referred to health limitations as a reason for working in a temporary job.

Table 13: Reasons for working in a temporary job and preferences for a permanent job

Casual workers were particularly likely to give educational reasons for working in a temporary job (one-third did so), suggesting that students are well represented in this type of temporary work. Seasonal workers were particularly likely to mention financial reasons for working in a temporary job. This may mean that they believed their wages were higher in their seasonal job, or alternatively that they misinterpreted the question to mean 'why are you working' rather than 'why are you working in a temporary rather than a permanent job'.^[12]

These results indicate that perhaps 13 percent of temporary workers were in temporary jobs for 'involuntary' reasons. The true percentage may be higher, if some of the people whose responses were difficult to classify were also working in temporary jobs because they were unable to find a suitable permanent job.

A logistic regression model was estimated to identify the personal characteristics that are significantly associated with working in a temporary job on an involuntary basis, holding the effects of other characteristics constant. The sample of all temporary employees was used for this analysis. The dependent variable in the regression was set to '1' if the individual said they were in a temporary job because they weren't able to find a permanent job, and '0' otherwise. The explanatory variables were gender, age group, ethnic group, highest educational qualification, parental status, whether an immigrant to New Zealand interacted with duration of residence, urban/rural location, job tenure, part-time status, type of temporary job, occupation, industry, firm size and business type.

The coefficient estimates from the regression and corresponding marginal effects (not shown in this paper) indicate that employees living in minor urban areas were more likely than those living in major urban areas to be working in temporary jobs for involuntary reasons. Seasonal employees, those who were working on a part-time basis, and those with longer tenure in their jobs, were significantly less likely to be working in temporary jobs for involuntary reasons than employees in other types of temporary employment, those who were full-time employed, and those with shorter job tenure.

5.2 Preferences for a permanent job

Temporary employees were also asked if they would prefer to have a permanent job. Forty percent said 'yes' to this question, demonstrating that for a substantial minority, temporary work is not the preferred mode of working. Fifty-three percent said they would prefer to continue doing temporary or seasonal work, and approximately 7 percent did not know or did not give a response. Although the 40 percent saying they would prefer a permanent job could be interpreted an a measure of 'involuntary' temporary work, this is probably not a valid interpretation, as some respondents may have thought about their 'ideal' employment arrangement rather than the one they would actively seek at present, given their current circumstances.

Figure 10: Preferences for temporary or permanent work

Data table for Figure 10

Similar proportions of men and women in temporary jobs said they would prefer to have a permanent job. Almost half of fixed term employees and temporary agency workers did so, while the proportions saying they would prefer a permanent job were somewhat lower among casual and seasonal employees (37 percent and 36 percent respectively). In most types of temporary work (with the exception of seasonal work), prime-aged employees were more likely than youth or older workers to say that they would prefer a permanent job.

A regression model was estimated to identify the personal and job characteristics that are significantly associated with the preference to work in a permanent job, holding the effects of other characteristics constant. The sample used for this analysis all temporary employees who gave a valid answer to the question. The explanatory variables were gender, age group, ethnic group, highest educational qualification, parental status, whether an immigrant to New Zealand interacted with duration of residence, urban/rural location, job tenure, part-time status, type of temporary job, occupation, industry, firm size and business type.

The results (not shown in this paper) indicate that teenagers, those aged 60 or over, those who were working on a part-time basis, and those with longer tenure in their jobs, were significantly less likely to prefer a permanent job than employees in other age groups, the full-time employed, and those with shorter job tenure. There were no statistically significant differences between casual, fixed term, agency and seasonal workers in the likelihood of wanting permanent work, indicating that temporary job type does not have a major impact once differences in personal characteristics are held constant.

5.3 Job satisfaction

In other countries, temporary workers have tended to report a lower level of job satisfaction than permanent employees (Booth et al 2000, Wooden and Warren, 2003)^[13]. In the SOWL this was also the case, but the differences were very small, too small to be consequential. Eighty-one percent of temporary workers and 84 percent of permanent workers said they were satisfied or very satisfied with their job. Six percent of temporary workers said they were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied, compared with 5.0 percent of permanents (see table 14).

Table 14: Job satisfaction and satisfaction with work-life balance

If job satisfaction is shaped by other factors that differ systematically between temporary and permanent employees, such as age, then any underlying relationship between holding a temporary job and job satisfaction could potentially be hidden in the unadjusted differences between group proportions. To check whether there is any underlying relationship, the probability of being dissatisfied with the job (as opposed to satisfied, or neither satisfied nor dissatisfied) was modelled in logistic regressions, using personal characteristics, job characteristics, and a dummy for holding a temporary job as the explanatory variables. No evidence was found of a statistically significant relationship between holding a temporary job and the likelihood of being dissatisfied with the job.^[14]

Survey respondents were also asked to rate their satisfaction with their work-life balance. Temporary employees were slightly more satisfied with their work-life balance than permanent employees, although once again the differences were too small to be consequential. Seventy-eight percent of temporary employees and 76 percent of permanents were satisfied or very satisfied. Among temporary workers, those who worked for a temporary employment agency rated their work-life balance most highly.

5.4 Summary

The survey results suggest that the majority, but by no means all, temporary employees work in temporary jobs by choice. The reasons given for working in a temporary job included only wanting or only being available to work for a finite period of time, preferring the flexibility associated with the working arrangement (such as the ability to turn particular shifts down), or wanting to obtain work experience or training. Approximately 13 percent indicated that the temporary job they currently held was taken for want of a better alternative.

Around 40 percent of temporary employees said that they would prefer a permanent job. Unfortunately, the question on preferences did not clarify what they meant in terms of context and timing (for example, did they want a permanent job now, or ideally in the future?), or ask about their job search intentions.