Variations in job satisfaction for permanent and casual workers

This research uses both qualitative and quantitative data from 125 call centre staff to evaluate the job satisfaction of permanent and casual employees in a call centre setting. Findings indicate that human resource management practices impact on levels of employee job satisfaction yet there is no difference between permanent and casual workers with respect to their satisfaction with these practices. Casual workers do however report higher direct levels of job satisfaction than permanent workers. This latter finding of a preference for casual work status among the respondents leads into a discussion that work status rather than sophisticated human resource management approaches may, in some call centre situations, determine employee well-being. Employees working in a call centre that deals with more complex tasks who have a higher need to satisfy aspects of the relational psychological contract may however require more sophisticated developmental human resource management approaches.