The Impact of Workforce Differentiation on Intentions to Remain

Workforce differentiation involves the differential treatment of employees based on their membership in particular categories of value defined by their employer (i.e., core staff vs. peripheral staff). Although workforce differentiation practices are increasingly commonplace, their impact on the employee attitudes is not well-known yet (e.g., Huselid & Becker, 2011; Gelens, Dries, Hofmans & Pepermans, 2013). This paper puts forward and tests a model of the relationship between workforce differentiation and the intentions to remain of employees who are subject to it. Based on social exchange, tournament and signaling theories, this study suggests that preferential treatment from workforce differentiation is positively related to intentions to remain with the company. Moreover, we hypothesize that social exchange orientation and status perceptions moderate this relationship. The results show that workforce differentiation is indeed positively related to intentions to remain. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that social exchange orientations might moderate the link between workforce differentiation and intentions to remain, while perceptions of one’s own social status have no bearing on this relationship.