Outsourcing and stability in employment: study on the hierarchy of labor values of outsourced workers

Resumen

Human values emerge from the interactions among people and their specific contexts, including environmental systems of the work life. Work values can be defined as targets and factors considered important by people in the employment context, functioning as goals to be achieved. The purpose of this research was to determine the hierarchy of work values in outsourced workers in a context of flexibility, concerning the categories ‘Stability’, 'Professional achievement',’ Social relations' and ‘Prestige'. A sample of 106 outsourced workers of a public university was investigated; it was predominantly female (68%) and an average age of 34,58 years (SD = 9.50) using the ‘Escala de Valores Relativos ao Trabalho’ (EVT). Variables gender, age, education and economic status were considered. Results indicated that the 'Stability' was the main factor in the hierarchy of work values. The trend to flexibility in labor conflicts with the trend of outsourced workers in their prioritization of Stability