Abstract The sector of temporary employment agencies in Belgium has been growing for more than 20 years. If temporary work is seen primarily as a path into the workforce for young people, it also concerns seniors, in increasing proportions. The problematic of end-of-career temporary work was analysed from a dual perspective, considering the embedding of temporalities in advanced modernity and more broadly the ‘lifecourse’ paradigm. A typology was created based on qualitative analysis of 36 semi-structured interviews of temporary workers ⩾45 years old. Results demonstrate how the experiences of temporary workers nearing retirement depend on professional, familial and social paths, and also reveal the presence of different cultural models: What is the importance of work in construction of an identity? What standards and values are applied? How is social time prioritised according to these norms? These analyses incorporate an intersectional framework in which gender and social inequalities structure the lives of workers approaching the end of their careers.