Outsourcing is probably the most common and widespread managerial practice in Brazil affecting the lives of thousands, directly or indirectly. Its application is, however, very diverse. The present study investigates the psychological contracts of outsourced and non-outsourced staff who are responsible for similar functions in the same organization. The sample was 210 workers from the service sector, 105 of them working on an outsourcing regime. The participants were on average 29.5 years old (sd=10,26), most of them were women (58.5%), with high levels of education (78%). The results demonstrate that outsourced and non-outsourced workers present different psychological contract patterns, particularly when comparing outsourcing in public or private companies. The most significant differences are related to investment in long lasting employment relations, equity expectation, transparency with the goals and problems for non-outsourced employee.
Psychological contracts; Outsourcing; Human resources