Job jitters go up when temporary workers join the workplace, ILR research shows.

Reliance on temporary workers -- an increasingly popular recession strategy for employers -- can make regular employees feel threatened, according to research by doctoral candidate Mallika Banerjee; Pamela S. Tolbert, professor and chair of the ILR School's Department of Organizational Behavior; and Thomas J. DiCiccio, ILR professor of social statistics.

The research is based on national data gathered from thousands of workers in small to medium-sized British firms on how limited-term employees affect a variety of work attitudes among regular employees.

The researchers found that temp workers in a workplace reduce regular workers' job satisfaction and organization loyalty -- attitudes that have been linked to increased absenteeism, turnover and other negative behaviors.

"Our analysis suggests that the presence of limited-contract employees has little effect on standard employees' perceptions of work overload, but strongly, negatively affects perceived job security," Tolbert said.

Mary Catt is ILR's staff writer.