Temporary workers can be a boon to any company, but managers must be careful not to treat them as a separate workforce from the full-time employees.

A recent paper put out by the University of Arizona found that full-time employees are less satisfied with bosses and other co-workers when they are working alongside a large proportion of temp workers. The paper cites three reasons:

1. Full-time workers are often asked to train these temps
2. This gets in the way of them completing their own work
3. They feel that their jobs have a diminished status when temps occupy a similar job as they do.

The paper recommends that employers encourage social interaction among full-time workers and temporary workers at events like department lunches, holiday parties, etc. This type of social interaction is key to developing a well-functioning workplace.

Another paper published two years ago found that temp workers want to work hard and fit in, and that they tended to have a more positive outlook and were better performers than full-time employees if they saw the job as a stepping stone to a full-time position.