In need of opportunities: A within-person investigation of opposing pathways in the relationship between job insecurity and participation in development activities

Abstract

Improving one's work-related skills may be particularly valuable for workers coping with jobs at risk. The present study investigates the effect of job insecurity on participation in formal development activities and examines the antagonistic roles of need for development and availability of learning opportunities in this relationship. We used data from the Dutch Longitudinal Internet Studies for the Social Sciences panel (LISS-panel) of 3744 employees who were followed over an eight-year period. This study applied random-intercept cross-lagged panel modeling to examine long-term within-individual changes. Results indicated that increases in job insecurity were related to increases in the need for development and decreases in learning opportunities. No significant relationships were found between changes in the need to improve one's skills and changes in participation in formal development, and between changes in learning opportunities and changes in participation in formal development. Our results suggest a duality: while individuals coping with increases in job insecurity experience increases in their need for learning opportunities, they experience decreases in the likelihood of receiving these opportunities. We also found a direct effect from job insecurity on participation, in which increases in job insecurity were related to decreases in participation in development activities. These findings showcase the long-term consequences of job insecurity on employee development.