The aim of this article is to study the relevance of the division of labour to the formation of organizational trust. Trust is defined as a phenomenon related to the resources available to a person in a given social position, a social position which in turn is related to the division of labour. It is argued that work externalization constitutes a division of labour, and that differing access to resources for internal and external workers explains variations in trust. The theoretical propositions are tested in a quantitative analysis of 711 external workers and internal employees in a Swedish organization. The results lend partial support to the theory. External employees are found to be less likely have strong trust in their co-workers. The relationship is mediated by perceptions of shared norms in the organization.
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