In 2006, Portugal ranked third with 21% of the work force employed on a temporary basis, below Spain (34%) and Poland (27%) and above Sweden (18%), The Netherlands (17%), Finland (17%), and Germany (15%).

In 2008, the figure for temporary employees in Portugal reached 901.000 and represented 22.9% of the total number of employees, compared with 22.8% in 2007 and 20.6% five years ago.

The growing demand for labor flexibility, both on the part of workers and enterprises, has been cited as being the main cause of rapid development in the temporary work sector (CIETT, 2000; European Commission / Employment and Social Affairs, 1999). In addition, it is also thought necessary, in order to secure advantage in a competitive market, for organizations to have employees who are strongly involved in their jobs and committed to the organizations they work for (Lawler, 1992; Meyer & Allen, 1997).

The question that this raises is whether it is possible to reconcile a management style that promotes employee involvement and commitment with this need for flexibility, achieved through the use of temporary workers.

Nowadays, this question is more important because the nature of temporary work and the temporary workforce itself has changed overtime:

•in the past, organizations used temps to undertake low-skilled, clerical positions, but now we find them in professional and technical occupations;

•in the past, the use of temps was once considered to be a “stop-gap”, now there is evidence that organizations are using temps as a part of their competitive strategy (Burgess & Connell, 2006). The important question is to know whether short-term benefits for organizations using TW, may bring the risk of long-term costs, namely poor worker outcomes (Forde & Slater, 2006). Indeed, within the frame of reference of the Social Exchange Theory (Blau, 1964) and the Norm of Reciprocity (Gouldner, 1960), some authors have considered (Millward & Hopkins, 1998; Rousseau, 1995) that contracting TW has had a devastating effect on both organizations and employees. Compared with permanent workers, TW have developed a more limited employment relationship with the organization (with fewer mutual obligations and less benefits or support) and, consequently, have responded with less favorable well-being and behavioral attitudes.

However, research has shown that this outcome is not inevitable. (Chambel & Castanheira  2006, 2007; Guest, 2004). In some situations, the TW employment relationship is more restricted, with more transactional and less relational characteristics, and so, responses will also be more restricted. Conversely, when the employment relationship of TW is the same as that of the permanent workers, with predominantly socio-emotional characteristics and high perceptions of support, then their attitudes and behavior will also be identical.

In this project our aim is to analyze the impact of Human Resource Management (HRM) on the employment relationship of TW. We believe that HRM policies and practices may attenuate or aggravate differences in the employment conditions of permanent and TW (Mitlacher, 2008). However, since the TW group is particularly heterogeneous, there can be no universal HRM, but rather different alternatives that should be developed in accordance with the specific characteristics of each type of TW. So, this project includes 4 empirical studies (ES) carried out with TW experiencing different work and employment situations.

At a theoretical level, this project is expected to show that:

1. (1)The HRM has an important influence on the TW employment relationship;
   

2. (2)The system of HRM that promotes a socio-emotional relationship depends on the categorical TW (TAW (temporary agency workers); fixed-term; with lower or higher qualifications, etc);
   

3. (3)Different HRM systems promote differences in temporaries` eustress responses and savoring strategies, which, in turn, determine differences in these workers’ well-being.
   

At an applied level, this project is expected to produce very innovative results:

1. (1)To introduce the HR system to managers and human resources managers, which will enable them to develop a positive employment relationship with the TW.
   

2. (2)This will subsequently lead these workers to display appropriate attitudes, behavior and well-being; to contribute to the accomplishment of equal-treatment principles (Commission of the European Communities, 2002), with a view to putting an end to discrimination against temporary workers.
   

The number of temporary workers has increased over recent years, both in the USA and in Europe and the majority of organizations are now confronted with having to simultaneously manage employees of different statuses.

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