Does financial anxiety affect job insecurity? Exploring the relationship and moderation by gender, tenure and income in the Indian context during COVID-19

Abstract

Purpose

Extant literature indicates the influence of anxiety on job insecurity (JI). However, the effect of financial anxiety (FA) on JI has received lesser attention. Further, there is a dearth of literature on this relationship during a global crisis, such as COVID-19, and more so in the Indian context. This study attempts to empirically explore the relationship between FA and JI in presence of moderators, such as gender, tenure and individual annual income.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from 584 employees engaged in remote working in the information technology (IT) sector in India during the COVID-19 crisis. The data were analysed using SPSS 25 and AMOS 24. A hierarchical regression method was followed to test the hypothesis. In step 1, JI was regressed on FA in presence of control variables. In step 2, moderators, such as gender, tenure and individual annual income, were entered along with interaction terms.

Findings

Findings revealed a significant positive relation between FA and JI. The moderating effects of gender, tenure and annual income on the relationship between FA and JI were significant and interesting.

Originality/value

The paper empirically studies the role of FA on JI of Indian IT employees during COVID- 19. It is a response to researchers' call to integrate the effect of different moderators on the relationship between FA and JI during a crisis that has direct impacts on both. The influence of moderators on JI was interesting in the reversal effects produced.

Citation

Bhowmik, P., Padhi, M. and Pattnaik, S. (2022), "Does financial anxiety affect job insecurity? Exploring the relationship and moderation by gender, tenure and income in the Indian context during COVID-19", Benchmarking: An International Journal, Vol. 29 No. 7, pp. 2291-2312. https://doi.org/10.1108/BIJ-03-2021-0134