Abstract
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the market environment for the information technology (IT) industry changed dramatically, presenting companies with numerous obstacles in day-to-day management activities and changing business needs. Previous studies found that job insecurity due to COVID-19 significantly impacted millennials. Our research explored the effect of job insecurity on counterproductive work behavior among millennial employees during the COVID-19 period, using moral disengagement as a mediating variable, and psychological capital and negative emotions as moderating variables. In this study, 298 employees working in Chinese IT companies completed the questionnaire survey. We collected data from employees over three different time intervals (baseline, three weeks later, and six weeks later) to mitigate the issues of common method bias and single-source data. We analyzed the collected data using SPSS25.0 and Amos24.0 for structural modeling. Our research results indicate that job insecurity is positively associated with counterproductive work behavior, and moral disengagement plays a mediating role. In addition, psychological capital moderates the relationship between job insecurity, moral disengagement, and counterproductive work behavior. Negative emotions also moderate the mediating effect of moral disengagement between job insecurity and CWB.
Highlights
Negative emotions in our study focus on whether emotional reactions resulting from job insecurity have an accelerator-like effect on one0 s moral disengagement
The factor loadings of each measurement item were all greater than 0.5, and each item fell into the corresponding factor, indicating the scale0 s good structural validity [75]
This study investigated the effect of job insecurity on counterproductive work behavior (CWB) based on conservation of resources (COR) theory and affective event theory
Summary
The resulting business reduction forced some companies to the verge of bankruptcy, necessitating staff layoffs for business survival. For some Internet companies, layoffs were the most direct and necessary step for closing the expense–income gap. It appears improbable that employees would not care about their employment conditions due to COVID-19 [1]. Jung et al [1] note that job insecurity due to COVID-19 has a more substantial impact on millennials. According to China0 s National Bureau of Statistics, in 2020, Chinese millennials were employed in 53% of companies and comprised more than half of the total number of employees in companies. The authors noted that millennials can learn and think uniquely about the workplace, but are vulnerable to hardship and stress. The study stated that if millennials encounter difficulties at work and cannot obtain help, they are more likely to experience negative emotions and lose enthusiasm for their work
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
