Increasing the Mental and Physical Well-being of Temporary Employees

Abstract

Since the end of the Second World War, the contingent workforce has rapidly changed from the traditional employment model (Henson, 1996). The current decade has continued to see a steep rise of temporary employees, and roughly 1 of every 10 workers can be classified in alternative employment (Bendapudi, Mangum, Tansky, & Fisher, 2003). With the growing numbers of temporary workers, it is important to analyze several variables that can influence workers' mental and physical health. This literature review analyzes the previous research describing the effect that job satisfaction, motivation, performance, and internal work relations have on the mental and physical well being of temporary workers. A proposed study tests the relationships of each category with the temporary employee's mental and physical health. It is predicted that by creating an appearance of job security within the temporary agency, a worker's satisfaction, motivation, performance, and mental and physical health will increase, creating an equitable working condition for a growing population.