abstract: 'Occupational heterogeneity in non-standard employment is an important and policy-relevant topic of investigation, and one which has not received sufficient attention. The main thesis of this article is that the function of fixed-term contracts, which in turn affects the situation and career prospects of employees, is dependent on occupation. Using data from European Survey of Income and Living Conditions, 2005-2008, I investigate the heterogeneities among fixed-term employees in various occupational categories in Poland, by analysing differences in (i) the demographic and socio-economic composition of temporary workers, (ii) the size of the wage penalty for fixed-term employment, and (iii) the chances of transition from fixed-term into open-ended employment. The results suggest that in managerial and professional occupations temporary contracts are more likely to be used during trial periods for newly hired workers and may serve as stepping stones to stable jobs, as reflected by the higher rates of mobility into open-ended employment. Temporary jobs in low-status service and manual occupations appear to result mainly from employers'' attempts to facilitate worker dismissal rather than their need to verify the skills of new employees, and are more likely to become a dead end for workers. However, although fixed-term workers in higher-status occupations seem to be better off than their counterparts in services, trade, and manual labour, the evidence does not support the claim that the former resemble the so-called `boundaryless'' employees, who suffer no negative consequences of their fixed-term status.' affiliation: 'Kiersztyn, A (Corresponding Author), Univ Warsaw, Inst Sociol, PL-00927 Warsaw, Poland. Kiersztyn, Anna, Univ Warsaw, Inst Sociol, PL-00927 Warsaw, Poland.' author: Kiersztyn, Anna author-email: chaber@is.uw.edu.pl author_list: - family: Kiersztyn given: Anna da: '2023-09-28' doi: 10.1093/esr/jcw044 eissn: 1468-2672 files: [] issn: 0266-7215 journal: EUROPEAN SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW keywords-plus: 'LABOR-MARKET FLEXIBILITY; FLEXIBLE EMPLOYMENT; INEQUALITY; CONTRACTS; WORKERS; CONSEQUENCES; TRANSITIONS; GERMANY; BRIDGE' language: English month: DEC number: '6' number-of-cited-references: '47' orcid-numbers: Kiersztyn, Anna/0000-0001-8112-6059 pages: 881-894 papis_id: 0aca68798b2c3a0c76ec5f75919c0232 ref: Kiersztyn2016fixedtermemployment researcherid-numbers: 'Kiersztyn, Anna/AAH-9353-2020 ' times-cited: '12' title: 'Fixed-Term Employment and Occupational Position in Poland: The Heterogeneity of Temporary Jobs' type: article unique-id: WOS:000397304800014 usage-count-last-180-days: '1' usage-count-since-2013: '11' volume: '32' web-of-science-categories: Sociology year: '2016'