Reciprocity, Commitment, and Employee Behavior During a Pandemic in the Hospitality Industry

Abstract

The tourism industry in Indonesia is severely affected by the Covid-19 crisis. Employees who are still working during the pandemic have a high probability of termination of employment. In times of crisis, the role of superiors is vital for the sustainability of the company's operations. It creates commitment to companies in the Tourism Industry in difficult times so that employees do not behave counter-productively. This study aims to examine the effect of Job Insecurity (JI), Perceived Leader-Member Exchange (PLMX), Organizational Commitment (OC) on Job Search Behavior (JSB). This study used a Cross-Sectional Research design where the sample is working-employee in Hospitality Industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study collected 191 data, then, as a prerequisite, through a screening question, sorted 107 employees (56%) who were still working for more than one year in their company. This study analyzed data using the Partial Least Square (PLS) method to determine the relationship between the construct variables with a total of 51 question items. Results from this study show that a high level of job insecurity has a significantly negative effect, and a high level of perceived leader-member exchange has a significantly positive effect on organizational commitment. Moreover, It is a significant driver of job search behavior and mediates the effect of job insecurity and perceived leader-member exchange on job search behavior.