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Purpose: This study aims to examine the relationship between perceived overqualification, perceived employability, perceived job insecurity and global psychological needs satisfaction, considering the moderating role of age groups. Design/methodology/approach: A cross-sectional survey design with a sample of 350 individuals was used in this study. Findings: A cross-sectional survey design with a sample of 350 individuals was used in this study. Originality/value: By addressing the moderating role of age, this study is original and has practical implications for age diversity management., Objetivo - Este estudo tem como objetivo estudar a relação entre a sobrequalificação, a empregabilidade, a insegurança no trabalho percebidas e satisfação das necessidades psicológicas globais, considerando o papel moderador dos grupos etários. Design/metodologia/abordagem - Foi utilizado neste estudo um desenho de pesquisa transversal com uma amostra de 350 indivíduos. Resultados - A sobrequalificação percebida, a empregabilidade percebida e a insegurança no trabalho percebida estão, em geral, significativamente relacionadas com a satisfação das necessidades psicológicas globais. No entanto, essas relações diferem entre as faixas etárias. Ou seja, para os indivíduos mais jovens, foi observada uma relação negativa entre a perceção de sobrequalificação e a satisfação das necessidades psicológicas globais, e para os indivíduos de meia-idade, a empregabilidade percebida está positivamente relacionada à satisfação das necessidades psicológicas globais, enquanto a insegurança no trabalho percebida e a sobrequalificação percebida estão negativamente relacionadas à satisfação das necessidades psicológicas globais. Finalmente, para os indivíduos mais velhos, a insegurança no trabalho percebida e a sobrequalificação percebida estão negativamente relacionadas à satisfação das necessidades psicológicas globais. Originalidade - Ao abordar o papel moderador da idade, este estudo é original e tem implicações práticas para a gestão da diversidade em função do grupo etário., Objetivo - Este estudio examina la relación entre la sobrecualificación percibida, la empleabilidad percibida, la inseguridad laboral percibida y la satisfacción de las necesidades psicológicas globales, considerando el papel moderador de los grupos de edad. Diseño/metodología/enfoque - En este estudio se utilizó un diseño de encuesta transversal con una muestra de 350 individuos. Resultados - La sobrecualificación percibida, la empleabilidad percibida y la inseguridad laboral percibida estaban, en general, significativamente relacionadas con la satisfacción de las necesidades psicológicas globales. Sin embargo, estas relaciones difieren entre los grupos de edad. En concreto, para los individuos más jóvenes, se observó una relación negativa entre la sobrecualificación percibida y la satisfacción de las necesidades psicológicas globales, y para los individuos de mediana edad, la empleabilidad percibida se relacionó positivamente con la satisfacción de las necesidades psicológicas globales, mientras que la inseguridad laboral percibida y la sobrecualificación percibida se relacionaron negativamente con la satisfacción de las necesidades psicológicas globales. Finalmente, para los individuos de mayor edad, la inseguridad laboral percibida y la sobrecualificación percibida se relacionaron negativamente con la satisfacción de las necesidades psicológicas globales. Originalidad - Al abordar el papel moderador de la edad, este estudio es original y tiene implicaciones prácticas para la gestión de la diversidad de edad en el contexto de las políticas de RRHH de las organizaciones.

PurposeThe increasing interest of organizations to innovate and survive in the market, combined with a decreasing level of trust in their leaders, has now led thinkers and researchers to begin exploring beyond traditional leadership theories. The literature indicates that, due to the lack of a strong and explicit moral dimension, positive leadership may be incomplete. The purpose of this study is to understand the creativity mechanism that is fostered by authentic leadership through empowerment and commitment to the supervisor.Design/methodology/approachThe data of 214 employees were collected from the strategic units (product generation, customer services, marketing and sales) of all five telecoms which are currently operating in Pakistan. The parallel mediation model was used to analyze the hypothesized model.FindingsResults confirmed that authentic leadership leverages creativity. Mediation results further confirmed that creativity increases when employees feel empowered and are committed to an authentic leader. However, contrast analysis indicated that empowerment has a stronger role in increasing creativity.Research limitations/implicationsNot limited to theoretical debate, the present study emphasized that organizations improve creativity by adopting a management model which delivers moral values along with an efficient, transparent system and empowered culture. Managers should be trained to develop authentic traits so that they can then identify and address critical areas which will serve to nurture creative and innovative behavior in their followers.Originality/valueAuthentic leadership is an emerging concept, yet debate on authentic leadership and creativity is in the establishment phase. The present study highlights that authentic leadership is not simply a consequence of success or the development of a pool of loyal subordinates; rather, empowered leadership at all levels is at the heart of a successful organization.

PurposeEmployability has been studied in different disciplines (e.g. occupational health and career) and has been seen as a personal resource with overall positive outcomes. The present research investigates the behavioral implications of (perceived) employability and responds to the recent call of research that perceived employability could have not only positive but also negative behavioral implications. Furthermore, this study aims to reduce the asymmetry of data set and replication of existing results in non-Western economies.Design/methodology/approachMultinationals were taken as context to test the hypotheses, and a sample of 230 white-collar employees was drawn from fast-moving consumer goods companies. Partial least square–structural equation modeling through SmartPLS was used to analyze the data.FindingsIn light of social exchange theory, the present research identified the dark side of employability, which may impair the employer–employee relationship. Perceived employability did not relate significantly with in-role performance, nor did it correlate with organizational citizenship behavior, that is, a discretionary behavior promotes the efficient and effective functioning. However, perceived employability had a positive significant relationship with OCBI, that is, helping supervisors and coworkers with heavy workloads, as well as with counterproductive behaviors.Practical implicationsEmployable workers have always been considered key players and an asset for organizations due to their high productivity skills. A balanced employer–employee relationship creates a mutual win; therefore, a carefully drafted human resources policy may help organizations to fulfill the needs of employable workers and reap optimal benefits in terms of productivity. Behavioral training to supervisors/managers may help to assertively deal with employees' negative behavior without further escalation.Originality/valueThe present study suggests a paradoxical perspective in employability – a behavior debate, which is in an initial phase where it is difficult to determine whether employable workers are productive to the organizations or not.

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.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the link between employer psychological contract (PC) fulfillment and employee attitudes (job satisfaction, organizational commitment and intention to leave the organization) by using employees’ perceptions of PC violation and organizational justice as serial mediators. Design/methodology/approach Data from 44 managers and 880 employees from 44 Spanish organizations were analyzed through multilevel structural equation modeling. Findings Results showed that employees’ feelings of PC violation and justice perceptions mediated the relationships between the employers’ PC fulfillment assessed by managers and job satisfaction and organizational commitment assessed by employees. The mediation effect was not significant for employees’ intention to leave the organization. Originality/value This study contributes to understand the process through which PC influences work outcomes, outlining the relevance of organizational justice as social exchange theory and PC theory (Guest, 2004) stated. In addition, present results extend the influence of PC on work outcomes from the individual to the organizational level.

Purpose This research focused on agency work. Previous studies highlighted the importance of motivations to understand workers’ attitudes, behaviors and well-being. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the contribution of perceptions of support from organizations to autonomous motivation for temporary agency employment, the relationship of motivations with workers’ well-being and the mediating role of motivations between perceptions of organizational support (POS) and workers’ well-being. Design/methodology/approach The hypotheses were tested with a sample of 3,983 temporary agency workers and using structural equation modeling. Findings The authors verified that POS from the agency contributed to both autonomous motivation and controlled motivation for temporary agency employment, whereas POS from the client company only contributed to autonomous motivation for temporary agency employment. Moreover, autonomous motivation for temporary agency employment was positively associated with workers’ well-being. Contrary to expectations, controlled motivation for temporary agency employment was not significantly associated with workers’ well-being. As predicted, autonomous motivation for temporary agency employment was a mediator in the relationship between POS and workers’ well-being. Research limitations/implications The study relies on self-reported data, and it does not have a longitudinal design. Practical implications An important implication of this research study is that organizations, through the support provided to the workers, may contribute positively to increase workers’ autonomous motivation for temporary agency employment, and, in turn, more autonomous motivation for temporary agency employment relates to higher levels of workers’ well-being. Originality/value The study innovates by including in the same model variables that may contribute to workers’ motivation for temporary agency employment as well as the outcomes that may arise from workers’ motivation for temporary agency employment.

Purpose No component of the human capital management has been more overlooked by companies than the process of welcoming new recruited employees – the on-boarding phase. This paper aims to present a three-component perspective of on-boarding and a contribution to measuring the employees’ perceptions based on three dimensions of welcoming: structured corporate welcome, manager welcome and coworkers welcome. Design/methodology/approach An empirical study based on a self-reported survey was conducted to test the model and an on-boarding employees’ perceptions proposed scale. The authors hypothesized that the three on-boarding components relate positively to some critical work outcomes (e.g. work engagement and affective organizational commitment). Analyses using a sample of 347 workers from Portuguese firms showed that the three-component on-boarding scale had adequate validity and all three components of on-boarding were positively related to the work outcomes included in this study. Findings Findings suggest that an effective onboarding process, based on the three-component perspective (corporate welcome, manager welcome and coworkers welcome), is a significant contribution to promote organizational affective commitment and work engagement of new employees. Originality/value The paper addresses the need for organizations to design on-boarding programs based on an integrated perspective, not only formal corporate activities but also preparing managers and coworkers to host effectively new employees. Strong association with work outcomes enables a better understanding on how onboard can contribute to an engaged and retained workforce.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the moderating role of affective commitment in the relationship between work-personal life conflict (WPLC) and burnout in the contact center environment.Design/methodology/approachData were obtained through the participation of a sample of Portuguese employees (n=2,055) of a large company in the contact center sector. Data were analyzed using the Process tool.FindingsThe results support the existence of a positive relationship between both dimensions of WPLC (i.e. time and strain) and burnout (i.e. exhaustion and cynicism). Moreover, the study confirms that the affective commitment moderates the relationship between both dimensions of WPLC and cynicism, buffering these relationships.Research limitations/implicationsThe cross-sectional design and the reliance on self-report measures are the main limitations of this study, although no causality was claimed and method biases were controlled.Practical implicationsContact center managers should develop human resources practices that aid employees to conciliate work and life. Furthermore, these work-life balance practices should be used together with high involvement human resources practices that promote employees’ affective commitment.Originality/valueThis study provides evidence for the need to reconceptualize the traditional work-family conflict, stressing the importance of considering the interference between domains of life, especially in sectors that tend to have young employees.

Purpose This study aims to explore the serial mediation effect of perceived internal employability and affective commitment in the relationship between the organisational practices of competences development and turnover intentions. Design/methodology/approach The methodology was quantitative and is based on a survey with a sample of 313 participants, all of whom were employed in several organisations located in Portugal. Findings A significant and negative effect of organisational practices of competences development, perceived internal employability and affective commitment on turnover intentions was verified. A total serial mediation effect was also found from perceived internal employability and affective commitment in the relationship between organisational practices of competences development (i.e., training, individualised support and functional rotation) and turnover intentions. Practical implications These practices should be developed by leaders of organisations in order that employees feel that the organisation is investing in their development, which can lead to an increase in their emotional attachment towards the organisation and consequently increase their desire to stay in the organisation. Originality/value This study makes two important contributions. First, it confirms the existence of a significant and negative relationship between perceived internal employability and turnover intentions. Second, it proves the existence of a total serial mediation effect of perceived internal employability and affective commitment in the relationship between organisational practices of competences development and turnover intentions.

Purpose To analyze the relationship between technology-assisted supplemental work (TASW) and well-being in the workplace – burnout and engagement. Furthermore, this study aims to test the relationship between TASW and burnout, mediated by work-to-family conflict (WFC) and the relationship between TASW and engagement mediated by work-to-family enrichment (WFE). Design/methodology/approach The data was collected from a service company operating in Portugal. A total of 338 responses from a services company in Portugal were analyzed. Two statistical programs were used for the data analysis: IBM statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS 25.0) and SPSS analysis of moment structures (AMOS 25.0). Findings The results highlight the positive relationship between TASW and engagement and the relationship between TASW and burnout, which only exists when WFC is present. Moreover, the relationship between TASW and engagement is stronger through WFE. Originality/value Using the conservation of resources theory as a framework, the results contribute to the literature by shedding further light upon the positive effects of TASW on employees’ well-being and the work and family relationship.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to compare part-time and full-time employees, analyzing the relationship between job characteristics and workplace well-being (i.e. burnout and engagement) and the mediating role of the work-to-life conflict with a sample of 736 employees from 14 Portuguese call center companies. Design/methodology/approach The hypotheses were tested with multiple group analysis on two samples: part-time and full-time employees. Findings The results confirm that in both the part-time and full-time subsamples employees’ perceptions of job characteristics are related to their well-being, and the work-to-life conflict partially mediates this relationship. Moreover, the study confirms that the relationship between employees’ perceptions of job demands and the work-to-life conflict and between the work-to-life conflict and workplace well-being were stronger for full-time than for part-time employees. Research limitations/implications The co-relational and cross-sectional design should be regarded as limitations. Moreover, each variable was only assessed with self-reported measures, and the sample comprised call center employees from only one country (Portugal), which may constrain the generalization of these results. Practical implications Part-time work is a good solution in order to prevent the work-to-life conflict. Furthermore, a reduced workload and time pressure, enhanced decision latitude and supervisory support appear to be crucial work characteristics for employees juggling their work with other roles and in the promotion of well-being at work. Originality/value This research study provides evidence that the traditional vision of the work-family conflict requires a broader conceptualization by considering the interference between life roles, particularly in the case of full-time young employees.

Purpose This paper aims to explore the extent to which participation in a previous graduate recruitment programme affects graduates’ organisational affective commitment and their desire to remain. Design/methodology/approach With the support of a Portuguese organisation that annually operates a trainee programme to attract the best graduates from top universities, a questionnaire with human resource management (HRM) practices, affective commitment and turnover intention scales was used, with data collected from 168 recent recruited graduates representing two groups: graduates with previous participation in the trainee programme and graduates non-trainees. Findings Despite the company’s expectation that graduate trainees would present higher levels of affective commitment and lower intentions to voluntarily leave than employees recruited by traditional procedures, the t-test results show no significant differences between groups. However, correlations for both groups show a significant positive association between perceived HRM practices and affective commitment and a negative relation with turnover intention. These results suggest that placing a high value on HR practices leads to reinforcement of employment relations and a decrease in the desire to voluntarily leave. Practical implications The findings suggest the need for organisations to rethink their recruitment strategies and raise an interesting question with regard to organisational strategy: is it useful or fair to create two groups of graduates within the same organisation, because we may be promoting the development of two micro-cultures? Originality/value The study with this specific group is needed because of an increased implementation of trainee programmes all over Europe as a means of attracting graduates. The literature is scarce, focusing only on trainees’ attitudes compared to those recruited through traditional procedures.

Purpose – Different studies underline that perceived job insecurity (PJI) has negative consequences at both individual and organisational level. Some authors investigated PJI in temporary agency workers (TAWs) but these studies did not focus on specific countries and did not discuss the relationship with job exhaustion. Other researchers explored gender differences in PJI and found different results; some investigated differences in PJI perception and others its relationship with the outcome of stress or well-being. The purpose of this paper is to inquire about the effects of PJI (as a demanding condition) on job exhaustion, considering the mediation role of workload and exploring differences between male and female TAWs. Design/methodology/approach – This research involved 474 Portuguese TAWs (209 men, 265 women). Data were collected through a self-report questionnaire; data analyses were performed using IBM Spss Statistics 22 for descriptive statistics, correlations and t-test; Mplus7 was used to estimate a multi-group structural equation model and to test the mediation. Findings – The results confirmed that workload is a mediator and indicated gender differences in how PJI relates to workload and job exhaustion in TAWs. In fact, the mediation of workload in the relationship between PJI and job exhaustion was partial in men and total in women: in the women group the direct effect of PJI on job exhaustion is not significant, and the indirect effect mediated by workload is significant; in the men group both direct and indirect effects are significant. Originality/value – This paper contributes to extend the research on job insecurity of TAWs in a specific national context and highlights gender differences in the relationship between PJI and job exhaustion.

Purpose – Temporary agency workers (TAWs) are regarded as experiencing employment conditions that tend to facilitate high strain. In this study, the authors view this situation as not being inevitable and dependent on the opportunity of having positive experiences in the professional context. The purpose of this paper is to propose that perceptions of the human resource management (HRM) practices system are positively related to work engagement, which in turn, is positively related to context free well-being. Design/methodology/approach – These hypotheses were tested with two samples of TAWs, from Portugal (n=241) and Brazil (n=228), contracted by the same international agency. Data were analyzed with multiple group analyses. Findings – Results confirmed that in both the Portuguese and Brazilian samples the HRM practices system is positively related to TAWs’ context free well-being and their work engagement mediates this relationship. However, the authors also verified that the relationship between work engagement and satisfaction with life was stronger for the Portuguese TAWs than for their Brazilian counterparts. Research limitations/implications – The study is limited, due to the nature of the data (self-reported) and the lack of a longitudinal design. Practical implications – An important implication of this research study is that agencies should acknowledge the fact that HRM practices are an investment with a return from TAWs, since they are positively related to their well-being. Originality/value – The findings highlight the importance of the HRM practices system in developing positive psychological states with TAWs, not only at work, but also outside this context. This observation was confirmed in two different countries.

Purpose – Temporary agency workers (TAWs) have a double employment relationship: one with the agency that hires them with a formal contract, either temporary or permanent; and another with the client organization where they actually perform their work. As the social-exchange theory assumes that TAWs respond to the support they receive from both organizations with affective commitment toward the respective organization. The purpose of this paper is to propose that the type of contract with the agency moderates these relationships, specifically that permanent TAWs present a stronger relationship between perceived organizational support (POS) and affective organizational commitment (AOC) toward the agency and, to the contrary, that temporary TAWs show a greater relationship between POS and AOC toward the client. Design/methodology/approach – The hypotheses were tested with a sample of 522 Portuguese TAWs, of which 265 were temporaries and 257 were permanents. Data were collected with a self-report questionnaire and analyzed with multigroup analysis using the AMOS program. Findings – The authors verified that POS from both the employment agency and the client organization were related to the TAWs’ affective commitment to each respective organization. Furthermore, the relationship between POS from the employment agency and the affective commitment to this organization was stronger in permanent than in temporary TAWs. However, contrary to the expectations, the contract with the agency did not moderate the relationship with client organizations: temporary and permanent TAWs showed a similar relationship between POS from this organization and their affective commitment toward it. Practical implications – These findings show the important organizational role of both the employment agency and the client in supporting their TAWs and attending to the type of contract they have with the employment agency. Originality/value – This paper contributes to the analysis of the TAWs’ double employment relationship and highlights the role of the agency contract in the explanation of these relationships.

Purpose – The aim of this study is to investigate the relationships among expatriates’ perceived human resource management practices (HRMP), psychological contract fulfilment (PCF) and turnover intention (TI). Design/methodology/approach – The study sampled 100 expatriates from a Portuguese company through a survey questionnaire. The paper used structural equation modelling (SEM) analyses to explore relationships between the variables and to test its hypotheses. Findings – Data showed that expatriates’ perceived fulfilment of their psychological contracts was negatively related to TI. The study also finds a positive relationship between HRMP and the fulfilment of psychological contract. Moreover, expatriates’ perceived fulfilment of psychological contract was found to be a mediator between HRMP and TI. Thus, a subjective perception of PCF is an important predictor of TI, but this perception is related with the HRMP developed by the organisation during the mission. Research limitations/implication – First, the study is limited due to the sample nature and the lack of longitudinal design not allowing causal relationships to be established between the variables. Second, all variables were measured using self-reported data, raising the question of whether the results may have been contaminated by common method variance. Practical implications – An important implication from this research is that organisations should develop appropriate HR practices during the mission and maintain open communications with their expatriates to ensure clear understanding of the agreement existing about the international mission. Originality/value – Few research studies are available to the authors’ knowledge to assess HRM practices with specific measure to expatriation context and with a Portuguese sample.

Purpose– This study aims to empirically identify cultural patterns in the family business: paternalistic,laissez-faire, participative and professional. Our second goal is to understand whether, besides the variable generation, there are other aspects that are based on the different cultural patterns in first and second generations. Dyer (1986) proposed a theoretical model to exploit cultural change in the family business, describing a typical temporal sequence of cultural patterns throughout the succession process.Design/methodology/approach– We selected a qualitative research approach with multiple case studies. Six small-sized Portuguese family businesses were selected. Data were collected from in-depth and semi-structured interviews with the family leaders and those directly responsible for human resource management.Findings– We empirically identified paternalistic,laissez-faireand participative cultural patterns. We also verified that, besides the generation, there are other factors that are at the root of the emergence of a cultural pattern within family businesses: the founder’s age and academic level and the presence of a human resource technician, in the case of businesses managed by founders and the presence of the founder in the case of businesses managed by second generation.Originality/value– By identifying different cultural patterns, we were able to verify that culture is an important variable to explain the relationship between the members of the family businesses and the way they are managed. Furthermore, this study suggests that more complex models, which consider multiple variables, are required to understand culture in the context of family businesses.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to set out to analyze the supervisor psychological contract as a new psychological contract focus. Furthermore, the relationship between this psychological contract and the organizational psychological contract is compared in the prediction of job satisfaction and organizational affective commitment among a sample of traditional (in-house) and temporary agency workers. Design/methodology/approach – The hypotheses were tested with multiple group analyses in a sample of 444 Portuguese call center workers: 215 were in-house and 229 were temporary agency workers. Findings – Results confirmed that workers, regardless of their status, distinguished these two foci of psychological contract. However, for temporary workers, the supervisor psychological contract partially mediated the relationship between the organizational psychological contract and attitudes; while for in-house workers the organizational psychological contract was relevant to explain job satisfaction and the two foci of the psychological contract related independently to workers’ affective commitment toward the organization. Research limitations/implications – The study is limited due to the nature of the sample (call center sector where temporary agency and in-house workers received similar opportunities and treatment) and the lack of a longitudinal design. Practical implications – An important implication of this research is that employers should assume the relevance of the supervisor for temporary agency workers. The social exchange between them and the host organization occurs in part through his/her actions. Originality/value – Although supervisor psychological contract has been acknowledged, as far as the authors know there are no empirical studies that support its existence or analyzes its relevance in worker-organization relationships.

PurposeOutsourced information technology (IT) workers establish two different employment relationships: one with the outsourcing company that hires them and another with the client organization where they work daily. The attitudes that an employee has towards both organisations may be influenced by the interpretations or attributions that employees make about the reasons behind the human resource (HR) management practices implemented by the outsourcing company. This paper aims to propose that commitment‐focused HR attributions are positively and control‐focused HR attributions are negatively related to the affective commitment to the client organization, through the affective commitment to the outsourcing company.Design/methodology/approachThese hypotheses were tested with a sample of 158 highly skilled outsourced employees from the IT sector. Data were analyzed with structural equation modeling (SEM).FindingsThe paper's hypotheses were supported. It can conclude that, if an employee interprets the HR practices as part of a commitment‐focused strategy of the outsourcing company, it has clear attitudinal benefits. The study found that the relationship between HR attributions and the commitment to the client organization is mediated by the commitment to the outsourcing company.Practical implicationsThese findings hint at the critical role of outsourcing companies in managing the careers of these highly marketable employees.Originality/valueThis paper is the first to apply the concept of HR attributions to contingent employment literature in general and to outsourced IT workers in particular.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the role of training to explain affective commitment and exhaustion of temporary agency workers (TAW). There is a general assumption that training relates with a social exchange relationship where employees exchange positive outcomes, not only with inducements received by training but also with the expectation of prospective inducements that will emerge from the fulfilment of promises made by the organization.Design/methodology/approachThe hypotheses were tested on a sample of 393 Portuguese blue‐collar TAW using structural equation modeling.FindingsThe hypotheses were supported. Training was positively related to workers' affective commitment and negatively to workers' exhaustion. Psychological contract fulfilment partially mediated these relationships.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is limited due to the nature of the sample (TAW in industrial sector with similar training opportunities as permanent workers) and the lack of longitudinal design. Neither does it provide implications for other types of commitment that may be relevant for TAW (continuance commitment, for example).Practical implicationsAn important implication of this research is that employers should not assume that training is an investment without return from TAW. Developmental opportunities, while important to all employees, were positively related to TAW' affective commitment towards the organization and negatively to TAW' exhaustion.Originality/valueThe findings highlighted the importance of training in developing positive employment relationships with TAW and the role of psychological contract fulfilment as a mechanism that contributes to explain such relationship.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyse whether a social exchange relationship between temporary workers and organizations is possible. The authors aim to consider whether, when training is perceived by an employee as an organizational practice that promotes his or her employability, this entails a social exchange relationship.Design/methodology/approachSurveys from 240 call centre workers were analyzed using correlation and multiple regression to explore relationships between training to promote employability, perceived organizational support (POS) and affective commitment.FindingsThe data support the idea that social exchange theories are useful frameworks in explaining temporary workers' affective commitment towards organisations. Organisational investment in training was positively related to the affective commitment of these temporary workers. However, employees attributed greater importance to the fact that training increased their employability than to the number of training hours received. The relationship between this human resource management practice and affective commitment partly occurred through the perceived organisational support. Such perception partially mediates the relationship between training as a promoter of employability and this positive attitude.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is limited due to sample nature and the lack of longitudinal design. It does not provide implications for other types of commitment that may be relevant for temporary workers (continuance commitment, for example).Practical implicationsAn important implication from this research is that employers should not assume that training is an investment without return from temporary workers. Developmental opportunities, while important to all employees, did make temporary workers more committed to organizations.Originality/valueThe paper is the first, to the authors' knowledge, to assess training as promoting employability with a specific measure. While the results are simple, they refute many stereotypes of temporary workers and add an important perspective to the human resource management literature.