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Article
Publication date: 14 August 2020

Marianna Giunchi, Pedro Marques-Quinteiro, Chiara Ghislieri and Anne-Marie Vonthron

The negative consequences of job insecurity on the well-being of individuals are well known. However, the perceptions of job insecurity over time and how some factors such as…

Abstract

Purpose

The negative consequences of job insecurity on the well-being of individuals are well known. However, the perceptions of job insecurity over time and how some factors such as social support may affect them have received limited attention. This study follows precarious schoolteachers for three weeks before the end of their contract to explore how their perceptions of job insecurity evolve over time.

Design/methodology/approach

The participants were 47 precarious schoolteachers who first completed a general questionnaire, then a diary survey on nine occasions over the course of the three weeks. Data was analysed with MPLUS 7.3.

Findings

The results suggest intra-individual differences regarding the way job insecurity was perceived over time. An additional discovery was that support provided by the school principal was negatively related to changes in job insecurity over time.

Research limitations/implications

The relatively small sample size, which includes only precarious schoolteachers, and the methodology complexity of the diary are limitations of this study.

Practical implications

This study highlights the subjective nature of the perceptions of job insecurity. It also shows the importance of the school principal's social support towards precarious schoolteachers; therefore, practitioners should propose interventions to enhance the quality of principal–teachers relationships.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the literature by investigating how perceptions of job insecurity evolve over time and the role of social support.

Details

Career Development International, vol. 25 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1362-0436

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 June 2016

Lena Låstad, Tinne Vander Elst and Hans De Witte

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between individual job insecurity and job insecurity climate over time.

1184

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between individual job insecurity and job insecurity climate over time.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected among readers of a Flemish Human Resources magazine. The data collection was repeated three times, resulting in a longitudinal dataset with information from 419 employees working in Flanders. A cross-lagged design was used in which both individual job insecurity and job insecurity climate were modeled at all times and reciprocal relationships between these constructs could be investigated.

Findings

The results showed that perceptions of individual job insecurity were related to perceiving a climate of job insecurity six months later. However, no evidence was found for the effect of job insecurity climate on individual job insecurity. This suggests that job insecurity origins in the individual’s perceptions of job insecurity and subsequently expands to include perceptions of a job insecurity climate at the workplace.

Research limitations/implications

First, the data used in this study were collected solely by self-reports, which could have introduced a common method bias to the study. Second, as with all non-experimental studies, the possibility that a third variable could have affected the results cannot categorically be ruled out.

Practical implications

Managers and human resource practitioners who wish to prevent job insecurity in organizations may consider focussing on individual job insecurity perceptions when planning preventive efforts.

Originality/value

By investigating the relationship between individual job insecurity and job insecurity climate over time, this study contributes to the understanding of job insecurity, both as an individual and a social phenomenon.

Details

Career Development International, vol. 21 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1362-0436

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 May 2023

Jurgita Lazauskaite-Zabielske, Ieva Urbanaviciute and Hans De Witte

Considering the adverse outcomes that job insecurity might have on employees and organizations (De Witte et al., 2016), this study aims to test the role of perceived justice in…

Abstract

Purpose

Considering the adverse outcomes that job insecurity might have on employees and organizations (De Witte et al., 2016), this study aims to test the role of perceived justice in preventing job insecurity from occurring. Relying on social information processing theory (Salancik and Pfeffer, 1978) and fairness heuristic theory (Lind, 2001), the authors analyze both an assessment of the extent to which the person is treated fairly by the organization (i.e. self-focused justice) and an individual's evaluation of the extent to which the person's co-workers are treated fairly (i.e. other-focused justice). The authors expect other-focused and self-focused justice to be negatively related to job insecurity.

Design/methodology/approach

The hypotheses were tested using cross-lagged structural equation modelling based on two-wave data from 126 employees working in a public sector organization undergoing structural changes.

Findings

The study results revealed that other-focused overall justice but not self-focused overall justice predicted lower job insecurity one year later. Moreover, other-focused overall justice did have a cross-lagged effect on self-focused overall justice.

Originality/value

By investigating the relationship between other- and self-focused overall justice and job insecurity over time, this study provides solid evidence into so far neglected longitudinal relationships between justice and insecurity. The results show that in the context of organizational changes, other-focused overall justice predicted lower job insecurity as well as higher self-focused overall justice one year later.

Details

Baltic Journal of Management, vol. 18 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5265

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 25 April 2011

Andrew S. Fullerton, Dwanna L. Robertson and Jeffrey C. Dixon

Purpose – In this chapter, we examine individual- and country-level differences in perceived job insecurity in the 27 European Union countries (EU27) within a multilevel…

Abstract

Purpose – In this chapter, we examine individual- and country-level differences in perceived job insecurity in the 27 European Union countries (EU27) within a multilevel framework.

Design/methodology/approach – We primarily focus on cross-national differences in perceived job insecurity in the EU27 and consider several possible explanations of it, including flexible employment practices, economic conditions, labor market structure, and political institutions. We examine both individual- and country-level determinants using multilevel partial proportional odds models based on individual-level data from the 2006 Eurobarometer 65.3 and country-level data from a variety of sources.

Findings – We find that European workers feel most insecure in countries with high unemployment, low union density, low levels of part-time and temporary employment, relatively little social spending on unemployment benefits, and in post-socialist countries.

Research limitations/implications – The findings from this study suggest that flexible employment practices do not necessarily cause workers to feel insecure in their jobs. This is likely due to the different nature of part-time and temporary employment in different institutional contexts.

Originality/value – This study is one of the most comprehensive accounts of perceived job insecurity in Europe given the focus on a larger number of countries and macro-level explanations for perceived job insecurity.

Details

Comparing European Workers Part A
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-947-3

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 January 2020

Alireza Jalali, Mastura Jaafar and Nur Izzati Hidzir

Although workplace bullying has often been considered a significant source of health-related problems, only a handful of studies have deeply examined this relationship. This paper…

Abstract

Purpose

Although workplace bullying has often been considered a significant source of health-related problems, only a handful of studies have deeply examined this relationship. This paper aims to fill this gap by inspecting the direct as well as indirect relationships between bullying and emotional exhaustion. This study also explores the buffering role of religion between job insecurity and emotional exhaustion.

Design/methodology/approach

This correlational paper used the quantitative method of data collection (N = 102) from employees in Malaysia and used SmartPLS to analyze the data. To operationalize workplace bullying as the second-order factor, partial least squares was used to estimate the two-stage model through the repeated use of a manifest variable.

Findings

The result of the current study showed that workplace bullying has a positive impact on job insecurity as well as emotional exhaustion while also having a positive indirect effect on emotional exhaustion through job insecurity. Moreover, the result of this study reveals that religion has a moderating (buffering) influence on the relationship between job insecurity and emotional exhaustion.

Research limitations/implications

The study merely applied self-report measures, thus potentially involving the common method variance problems.

Practical implications

Human resource professionals must be aware that employees who are exposed to bullying actions may consider emotional exhaustion and job security needs to be restored among targets. For instance, they need to ensure that no unwanted and illegitimate relocation or alternation of work task has occurred. Furthermore, it is significant to encourage employees to regularly attend religious services because religious involvement could foster mental health, in part by lowering the risk of exposure to stressful life events such as job insecurity.

Originality/value

This study could be beneficial for organizations and researchers looking to address emotional exhaustion, security and bullying in a context broader than physical health and may further supplement the discussions around workplace bullying, mental health and religion.

Details

Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research, vol. 11 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1759-0817

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 18 November 2019

Jessie Koen, Jasmine T.H. Low and Annelies Van Vianen

While job insecurity generally impedes performance, there may be circumstances under which it can prompt performance. The purpose of this paper is to examine a specific situation…

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Abstract

Purpose

While job insecurity generally impedes performance, there may be circumstances under which it can prompt performance. The purpose of this paper is to examine a specific situation (reorganization) in which job insecurity may prompt task and contextual performance. The authors propose that performance can represent a job preservation strategy, to which employees may only resort when supervisor-issued ratings of performance are instrumental toward securing one’s job. The authors hypothesize that because of this instrumentality, job insecurity will motivate employees’ performance only when they have low intrinsic motivation, and only when they perceive high distributive justice.

Design/methodology/approach

In a survey study among 103 permanent employees of a company in reorganization, the authors assessed perceived job insecurity, intrinsic motivation and perceived distributive justice. Supervisors rated employees’ overall performance (task performance and organizational citizenship behaviors).

Findings

Multilevel analyses showed that job insecurity was only positively related to supervisor-rated overall performance among employees with low intrinsic motivation and, unexpectedly, among employees who experienced low distributive justice. Results were cross-validated using employees’ self-rated performance, replicating the findings on distributive justice but not the findings on intrinsic motivation.

Research limitations/implications

The results can inform future research on the specific situations in which job insecurity may prompt job preservation efforts, and call for research to uncover the mechanisms underlying employees’ negative and positive responses to job insecurity. The results and associated implications of this study are largely based on conceptual evidence. In addition, the cross-sectional design warrants precaution about drawing causal inferences from the data.

Originality/value

By combining insights from coping responses and threat foci, this study advances the understanding of when and why job insecurity may prompt performance.

Details

Career Development International, vol. 25 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1362-0436

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 August 2023

Felipe Muñoz Medina, Sergio Andrés López Bohle, Jeske Van Beurden, Maria José Chambel and Sebastian M. Ugarte

Although research on job insecurity (JI) and its relationship with employee performance has increased in recent years, results are mixed and inconclusive. The objectives of this…

Abstract

Purpose

Although research on job insecurity (JI) and its relationship with employee performance has increased in recent years, results are mixed and inconclusive. The objectives of this paper are to explore 1) the conceptualizations of JI, 2) the relationship between JI and different performance dimensions, 3) the theoretical perspectives used to explain the JI–performance relationship and 4) the mechanisms and contextual boundaries that affect the JI–performance relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

Following the PRISMA guidelines, the authors systematically searched for peer-reviewed empirical studies published before July 2021 in Web of Science and Scopus. The authors analyzed 81 empirical studies published on the conceptualization of job insecurity, its relationship with employee performance, and what mechanisms and contingency factors are studied. The authors used thematic analysis to analyze the articles.

Findings

Results of this review show that the quantitative cognitive dimension is dominant in extant JI literature. Furthermore, in-role performance and OCB were most often investigated in relation to the four dimensions of job insecurity, drawing from a range of theoretical perspectives to explain this relationship. Moreover, a variety of mechanisms and contextual factors on individual, individual work-related, individual-level attitudes and job-level characteristics have found to play a role in this relationship.

Research limitations/implications

This study has a number of limitations. The first pertains to the exclusion of articles in languages other than English and non-peer reviewed papers. It is possible that the search strategy used may not have identified other studies that may have met the established criteria in order to be included in our research. However, this method was chosen to guarantee the quality of the included articles in this study and in line with previous meta-analyses and literature reviews (De Witte et al., 2016; Sverke et al., 2019). Second, one selection criteria focused on how performance was assessed in the studies incorporated in this literature review. The authors excluded studies that addressed performance from the perspective of the organization (i.e. studies that measured performance at the organizational level). The authors herewith might have excluded studies that focused on one or multiple job insecurity constructs, but the authors herewith included studies that were comparable in terms of performance indicator outcomes. Future studies could expand the search by investigating, as a next step, the impact on organizational performance. Finally, since the focus of this literature review was on the relationship between job insecurity and performance indicators, including the mechanisms and boundary conditions that affect this relationship, the authors did not include focus on how job insecurity can be influenced (Shoss, 2017), and herewith lack information on the predictors side of job insecurity. However, by narrowing the authors focus to mediators and moderators, the authors were able to come up with an extensive list of factors that impact the job insecurity–performance relationship and herewith provide fruitful areas for future research. Future studies could expand these findings by providing an overview of predictors of different job insecurity constructs, to see whether there are potential different predictors of job insecurity conceptualizations (Jiang and Lavaysse, 2018).

Practical implications

The study review contributes to the systematization of the current empirical evidence on this area of research. This is especially important and enables room to take an additional step toward understanding the consequences of job insecurity on performance. Specifically, it is important for organizations and policymakers to be aware of the different conceptualizations of job insecurity that exist and how they impact employee performance. In addition, an overview of potential mechanisms and boundary conditions that affect this relationship provides insights as to how organizations can intervene to affect reactions to job insecurity.

Social implications

The study findings are relevant and may be of interest to decision makers in organizations and national authorities that must have information on quality concerning the effects of job insecurity on performance.

Originality/value

Based on these findings the authors show the impact of the different conceptualizations of job insecurity and how they affect job performance. In addition, the authors provide recommendations for future studies how to better handle the integration of different conceptualizations and measures of job insecurity and its different approaches.

Details

Career Development International, vol. 28 no. 6/7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1362-0436

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 August 2014

Xingshan Zheng, Ismael Diaz, Ningyu Tang and Kongshun Tang

The purpose of this paper is to examine optimism and how facets of subordinates’ psychological characteristics, such as their attitudes and personalities, are similar to their…

4982

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine optimism and how facets of subordinates’ psychological characteristics, such as their attitudes and personalities, are similar to their direct supervisors’ (as person-supervisor deep-level similarity or P-S deep-level similarity) in order to understand their interactions with job insecurity in predicting employee job satisfaction.

Design/methodology/approach

Empirical study had been conducted. Sample firms in this study consist of eight state-run electric power companies and 16 licensed chemical companies in central Hubei Province in China. In total, 368 valid samples were included in the analyses (with a valid return rate of 73 percent). All constructs were rated on a five-point Likert-type response scale. In order to diminish the possibility of common method biases, the authors used participants’ dyad supervisors to rate P-S deep-level similarity and P-S guanxi. The authors tested the hypotheses by implementing hierarchical linear regression.

Findings

The results show that when certain demographic variables (e.g. age, gender, education, post, employment type, income proportion, position) and P-S guanxi are controlled, optimism and P-S deep-level similarity significantly interact with job insecurity to predict job satisfaction. Job satisfaction is bolstered when job security increases among those who report a high level of both optimism and P-S deep-level similarity.

Originality/value

Researchers have found that job insecurity has negative effects on job satisfaction (Sverke et al., 2002). But there is a lack of understanding about the mechanism of how job insecurity affects job satisfaction. In this study, the authors found that optimism and P-S deep level similarity could jointly moderate the relation (and direction) between job insecurity and job satisfaction. The work illustrates how positive traits (such as optimism) and psychological factors (such as P-S deep-level similarity) could affect employee job satisfaction with different levels of job insecurity.

Details

Career Development International, vol. 19 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1362-0436

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 August 2019

Maike E. Debus, Dana Unger and Cornelius J. König

Research on the relationship between job insecurity and job performance has thus far yielded inconclusive results. The purpose of this paper is to offer a more dynamic perspective…

1103

Abstract

Purpose

Research on the relationship between job insecurity and job performance has thus far yielded inconclusive results. The purpose of this paper is to offer a more dynamic perspective on the effects of job insecurity on job performance.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing from cognitive appraisal theory, research on critical life events, and stress reactions as well as more general theorizing around the role of time, this paper proposes that individuals’ job performance reactions to job insecurity will be dynamic over time.

Findings

Adopting a person-centered perspective, this paper suggests that there are seven subpopulations that differ in their intra-individual job performance change patterns over time.

Research limitations/implications

This paper presents potential predictors of subpopulation membership and presents an agenda for future research.

Originality/value

We contribute to the literature by introducing a dynamic perspective to the study of job performance in the context of job insecurity. Delineating a set of open questions that follow from the presented theoretical arguments, the authors also hope to stimulate future research in the context of job insecurity and job performance.

Details

Career Development International, vol. 25 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1362-0436

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 1996

Jo Carby‐Hall

This “Rapport” proposes to examine the function and effect of British social law in the context of the employment/unemployment debate. This debate is a most significant one for it…

179

Abstract

This “Rapport” proposes to examine the function and effect of British social law in the context of the employment/unemployment debate. This debate is a most significant one for it has not only British, but also European and International dimensions.

Details

Managerial Law, vol. 38 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0558

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