A gender perspective on precarious employment: temporariness and its impact on conflict management and mentoring in the hospitality industry

Purpose This research explores the relationship of precarious employment – with an emphasis on its temporariness nature – with the different conflict management styles and mentoring received by temporary hotel employees within the framework of conservation of resources theory. Design/methodology/approach Data were obtained from 590 temporary workers employed in 3*, 4* and 5* hotels in Greece. The sample was 53.6% men and 46.4% women working in food and beverage, housekeeping, human resources, front office and other departments. Linear regressions and a moderation test were conducted to examine the hypotheses. The Markov regime-switching regression model was applied as a robustness test. Findings The results indicate that temporariness is positively related to integrating and negatively to avoiding, compromising and mentoring. Moreover, female employees are more likely to adopt the avoiding style, whereas male employees tend to favor the compromising style. Additionally, the negative impact of temporariness on mentoring received was stronger for women than men. Research limitations/implications This study highlights the necessity for hotel managers to undergo training in effective mentoring while providing open communication, teamwork and mentoring programs to improve performance and enhance organizational adaptability of temporary workers. Originality/value This study is the first to examine the dynamics of conflict management and mentoring received among temporary hotel workers thus providing a greater theoretical understanding of these relationships.