Abstract
The present study examines the effect of service employees’ job insecurity on job performance through emotional exhaustion. We identified workplace incivility (i.e., coworker and customer incivility) as a boundary condition that strengthens the positive relationship between job insecurity and emotional exhaustion. To test this moderating effect, we collected online panel surveys from 264 Korean service employees at two time points three months apart. As predicted, the positive relationship between job insecurity and job performance was partially mediated by emotional exhaustion. Of the two forms of workplace incivility, only coworker incivility exerted a significant moderating effect on the job insecurity–emotional exhaustion relationship, such that this relationship was more pronounced when service employees experienced a high level of coworker incivility than when coworker incivility was low. Coworker incivility further moderated the indirect effect of job insecurity on job performance through emotional exhaustion. These findings have theoretical implications for job insecurity research and managerial implications for practitioners.
Highlights
The long-lasting recession and unpredictable changes in the global economy have exposed employees to job insecurity [1,2]
Building on AET and conservation of resources (COR) theory, we proposed a positive relationship between job insecurity and emotional exhaustion for service employees
On the basis of COR theory, we proposed that service employees suffer more from job insecurity when exposed to customer incivility
Summary
The long-lasting recession and unpredictable changes in the global economy have exposed employees to job insecurity [1,2]. Job insecurity is defined as “the level of uncertainty a person feels in relation to his or her job continuity” [2], Prior research has examined the job insecurity of employees who work in various occupations and industries [3] and has developed a model of job insecurity that is applicable across different jobs [4]. Given that job insecurity has become a critical issue for service employees [5,6], it is surprising how little research has addressed the job insecurity of such employees. To fill this research gap, our study seeks to develop and test a model of job insecurity targeting service employees. We contend that it is pivotal to examine job insecurity in the service sector for two reasons
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