scholarly journals Perceived Job Insecurity and Well-Being Revisited: Towards Conceptual Clarity

Author(s):  
Ingo Geishecker
2020 ◽  
pp. 0143831X2097547
Author(s):  
Mojca Svetek

Flexicurity is an integral part of the EU Employment Strategy. Flexicurity promises that it is possible to simultaneously provide organisations with greater flexibility and offer workers the necessary level of security. This is achieved by replacing job security, which stems from a permanent employment contract, with employment and income security. The aim of this article is to present an individual-level investigation of the relationships between various elements of flexicurity, examining how they affect psychological well-being and job satisfaction. A heterogeneous sample of 432 adults employed under various types of employment arrangements participated in the study. The results showed that the type of employment arrangement was the main predictor of perceived job insecurity. Moreover, perceived job insecurity mediated the relationship between employment arrangement and psychological outcomes. Finally, employment and income security failed to mitigate the negative effect of job insecurity. The promise of flexicurity is therefore called into question.


2020 ◽  
Vol 152 (2) ◽  
pp. 421-442 ◽  
Author(s):  
Concetta Russo ◽  
Marco Terraneo

Abstract Drawing on 2011 and 2016 European Quality of Life Survey data from eight European countries, this paper considers the importance of subjective indicators of employment conditions in impacting mental well-being. Among employment conditions, job insecurity has been discussed as having a negative impact on mental well-being by enhancing the worker’s sense of unpredictability. The idea of losing one’s job brings with it the fear of an uncertain or unclear future and the sense of lack of agency—i.e. feeling powerless with respect to the risk of becoming unemployed. Thus, we investigate two dimensions of job insecurity, namely ‘cognitive job insecurity’ and ‘labour market insecurity’. Our dependent variable is mental health well-being, measured using the 5-item World Health Organization Well-Being Index (WHO-5), which is a self-reported health scale validated by several studies and internationally adopted for measuring psychological well-being. We apply a fixed-effects model and use a set of individual control variables to obtain parameter estimates. Moreover, to control for country-level heterogeneity, two macro-level variables are considered: the type of welfare regime and employment protection. The novelty of this research lies in disentangling the concept of precariousness from the dichotomy of open-ended/non-open-ended contract and in including in the analysis subjective categories such as self-perceived job insecurity. The findings of our study suggest that self-perceived job insecurity is negatively related to mental well-being for both permanent and temporary workers, making this stressor an important feature in predicting the emergence of psychological distress (i.e. feelings of anxiety or depression) among the workforce.


Author(s):  
Saija Mauno ◽  
Jaana Minkkinen ◽  
Riikka Hirvonen ◽  
Noona Kiuru

AbstractIn this study, we examined whether maternal perceived job insecurity (JI) affected depressive symptoms in their adolescent children. Specifically, we tested a mediator-moderator model in which we hypothesized that maternal JI was related to adolescent depressive symptoms indirectly via maternal depressive symptoms. Most importantly, we also explored whether this indirect path was moderated by two buffering resources, i.e., maternal off-job recovery and adolescent self-esteem. There is little research on the effects of parental JI on adolescent children from the viewpoint of buffering moderators. Due to growing insecurity in the labor markets we need more information about resources that mitigate the harmful effects of JI within families. We tested the model via structural equation modeling among Finnish mother-adolescent dyads (N = 601, mothers aged 32–60 years; adolescents aged 14–18 years). Our results showed that mothers’ depressive symptoms did not mediate the relationship between mothers’ JI and adolescents’ depressive symptoms, but mothers’ JI was directly related to increased depressive symptoms among both adolescents and their mothers. Mothers’ off-job recovery and adolescents’ self-esteem buffered against mothers’ JI in relation to depressive symptoms. When off-job recovery (in mothers) and self-esteem (in adolescents) were high, the higher level of JI was not associated with increased depressive symptoms. Off-job recovery among working mothers should be improved as it has potential to protect against JI. Moreover, adolescents’ self-esteem should be boosted as it mitigates the effects of mothers’ job stress (e.g., JI) on adolescents’ well-being.


1993 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. 885-886 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Orpen

In a South African manufacturing company the correlations between perceived job insecurity and psychological well-being were examined among 54 white managers in relatively ‘safe’ jobs and 78 black production workers in relatively ‘unsafe’ jobs. The former felt more secure in their jobs but not less anxious or depressed than the latter. Job insecurity was positively related to both anxiety and depression (.30 to .40) in both groups, confirming the benefits of perceived job security to employees, irrespective of whether they felt initially secure or not in their jobs.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sumera Saeed ◽  
Ibne Hassan ◽  
Ghulam Dastgeer ◽  
Tehrim Iqbal

PurposeThe current study focuses on the role of antecedents to prevent perceived job insecurity and mitigate its negative impacts on work-related well-being. The study examined variables of the resourceful environment (effective organizational communication and involvement), conserved resources (perceived employability and emotional exhaustion) and resource loss (job insecurity) by drawing on the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory for predicting the work-related well-being adding the moderating role of boundaryless career orientation.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 306 salespersons of pharmaceutical companies working in Pakistan was obtained. The hypothesized relationships were tested through structural equation modeling in SmartPLS.FindingsThe results confirmed showed that the organizational communication, employee involvement and perceived employability reduce the perceived job insecurity; however, the emotional exhaustion was positively related. It also confirmed the moderating effect of boundaryless career orientation on relationship of job insecurity and well-being.Practical implicationsTo make employees engaged, the organizations are required to involve employees by sharing knowledge, information and power to make decisions, value their opinion and ensuring the employability. Further, salespersons having a preference of a boundaryless career proved to mitigate negative impact of job insecurity on work-related well-being.Originality/valueMany empirical studies have identified that the perceived job insecurity is one of the major concerns affecting employee's well-being. However, few studies simultaneously have sought to prevent the perceived job insecurity among employees. The findings are important in developing the understanding that how salespersons perceive their capabilities and the work environment of the organization, this perception; resultantly, can influence their behaviors particularly the work engagement dimension of well-being.


2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beatriz Sora ◽  
Thomas Höge ◽  
Amparo Caballer ◽  
José M Peiró

A large amount of research has focused on job insecurity, but without obtaining consistent results. Some authors have pointed that this variability might be due to the operationalization of job insecurity. Different types of job insecurity can provoke different employee reactions. The aim of this study is to analyse the effect of job insecurity, understood as temporary employment (objective job insecurity) and personal perception (subjective job insecurity), on affective well-being. In addition, the moderator roles of job self-efficacy and collective efficacy are examined in the relationship between job insecurity and employees’ affective well-being. This study was carried out with 1435 employees from 138 Spanish and Austrian organizations. The results showed a different effect of job insecurity depending on its conceptualization. Only subjective job insecurity was negatively related to affective well-being. Moreover, both self- and collective efficacy moderated the subjective job insecurity–outcomes relation, ameliorating employees’ well-being levels when they perceived job insecurity.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasir Mansoor Kundi ◽  
Mohammed Aboramadan ◽  
Eissa M.I. Elhamalawi ◽  
Subhan Shahid

Purpose Given the importance of employee psychological well-being to job performance, this study aims to investigate the mediating role of affective commitment between psychological well-being and job performance while considering the moderating role of job insecurity on psychological well-being and affective commitment relationship. Design/methodology/approach The data were gathered from employees working in cellular companies of Pakistan using paper-and-pencil surveys. A total of 280 responses were received. Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling technique and Hayes’s Model 1. Findings Findings suggest that affective commitment mediates the association between psychological well-being (hedonic and eudaimonic) and employee job performance. In addition, perceived job insecurity buffers the association of psychological well-being (hedonic and eudaimonic) and affective commitment. Practical implications The study results suggest that fostering employee psychological well-being may be advantageous for the organization. However, if interventions aimed at ensuring job security are not made, it may result in adverse employee work-related attitudes and behaviors. Originality/value The study extends the current literature on employee well-being in two ways. First, by examining psychological well-being in terms of hedonic and eudaimonic well-being with employee work-related attitude and behavior. Second, by highlighting the prominent role played by perceived job insecurity in explaining some of these relationships.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document