Quantitative Job Insecurity Research Articles

Tasks at hand or more challenges: The roles of regulatory focus and job insecurity in predicting work behaviours

AbstractPrevious studies have explored the effects of trait regulatory focus on routine performance and proactive behaviour yet failed to reveal the underlying motivational mechanisms and investigate how these effects may operate in uncertain environments. To fill this gap, our study first draws upon regulatory focus theory to examine the motivational mechanisms linking trait regulatory focus with routine performance and challenge‐seeking behaviour (i.e., a type of proactive behaviour). We hypothesize that trait prevention focus improves routine performance but reduces challenge‐seeking behaviour via avoidance motivation, whereas trait promotion focus increases routine performance and challenge‐seeking behaviour through approach motivation. Incorporating trait activation theory, we further theorize that uncertainty that threatens individuals' security needs (i.e., quantitative job insecurity) strengthens trait prevention focus effects, while uncertainty that threatens individuals' growth needs (i.e., qualitative job insecurity) weakens trait promotion focus effects. Analysing two‐wave data from 275 employees and 58 supervisors, we found that (a) trait prevention focus had an unconditional positive indirect effect on employee self‐reported routine performance via increased avoidance motivation and (b) trait promotion focus had positive indirect effects on employee self‐reported and supervisor‐rated routine performance and challenge‐seeking behaviour via enhanced approach motivation, with these effects stronger at lower levels of qualitative job insecurity.

“Don't you worry ‘bout a thing” – the moderating role of age in the relationship between qualitative job insecurity and career sustainability

PurposeBuilding on a stress-related view, this study examines the impact of qualitative job insecurity on three indicators of career sustainability. It also examines the moderating role of employee age in this relationship.Design/methodology/approachDutch respondents (N = 398) working in various sectors responded to an online survey. Our hypotheses were tested using path modeling with Mplus.FindingsQualitative job insecurity was negatively related to job satisfaction, general health, and employability. Moreover, a moderating effect of employee age on the relationship between qualitative job insecurity and job satisfaction was found.Practical implicationsOrganizations need to take measures to prevent qualitative job insecurity, as this appears to be an essential hindering factor that might endanger an employee's career sustainability. Especially younger workers (<40 years) seem to suffer from qualitative job insecurity as this decreases their job satisfaction, urging management and HR professionals to protect them against it.Originality/valueBy focusing on qualitative job insecurity, this study helps to close an essential gap in the literature that so far has mainly focused on quantitative job insecurity. Besides, this is the very first empirical work investigating the link between qualitative job insecurity and multiple indicators of career sustainability. Finally, this research adds a developmental approach to sustainable careers by comparing younger and older workers.

Invisible struggles: unveiling the mental health implications of job insecurity among migrant hospitality workers

ABSTRACT Migrant workers in India, who are often seen as the backbone of the nation, live in highly precarious conditions, experiencing heightened job insecurity. Nevertheless, they received little attention in scholarly investigations. This study utilises the latent deprivation theory to investigate the impact of quantitative and qualitative job insecurity experienced by interstate migrant hospitality workers in India and its impact on their mental health. The study also explores the potential mediating role of employee morale in this relationship. Additionally, it investigates whether the perception of employability, which refers to the likelihood of finding alternative employment, moderates the link between job insecurity dimensions and mental health. Data was collected from interstate migrant workers employed in tourist hotels in Delhi, India. Findings revealed that both dimensions of job insecurity have been negatively associated with the mental health of these workers, with employee morale serving as a partial mediator in the relationship. Employability is found to be a crucial moderator in alleviating the negative impact of quantitative job insecurity on mental health. In light of the findings, the study offers key interventions required at the policy and organisational levels to enhance well-being while utilising the unique skills and diverse perspectives of these migrant workers.

Examining the mediating effects of motivation between job insecurity and innovative behavior using a variable-centered and a person-centered approach.

The fierce market competition environment makes employees feel insecure at work. While it is difficult for enterprises to provide employees with a sense of security, they have to rely on employees' innovative behavior to seek competitive advantage. Therefore, this study focuses on how employees engage in innovative behavior when they face job insecurity. Using a variable-centered approach, this study aims to examine the mediating effects of intrinsic and impression management motivation in the relationship between quantitative and qualitative job insecurity and innovative behavior, including proactive and reactive innovative behavior. In addition, a person-centered approach is used to investigate whether it is possible to distinguish different combinations of quantitative and qualitative job insecurity, and examine the effect of these job insecurity profiles on motivation and innovative behavior. We used 503 data sets collected via the Credamo platform in China into the data analysis. The study found that quantitative job insecurity affects proactive and reactive innovative behavior through impression management motivation and that qualitative job insecurity affects proactive and reactive innovative behavior through intrinsic and impression management motivation. In addition, three job insecurity profiles were identified: balanced high job insecurity, balanced low job insecurity, and a profile dominated by high quantitative job insecurity, all of which have significantly different effects on motivation and innovative behavior. This study contributes to provide new insights into the relationship between job insecurity and innovative behavior and compensate for the limitation of the traditional variable-centered approach that cannot capture heterogeneity within the workforce.

Unpacking the Role of Job Insecurity for Employee Creativity: A Multidimensional Perspective

Modern organizations frequently expect their employees to exhibit high creativity while facing considerable job insecurity. Although it is often assumed that job insecurity diminishes individual creativity, the empirical findings on this relationship are not consistent. The present study aims to scrutinize this assumption and to address such inconsistencies. To do so, we cast both job insecurity and creativity as multidimensional constructs, and we examine key mechanisms and boundary conditions of their linkages. Results from both a longitudinal (Study 1) and a time-lagged multisource survey study (Study 2) illustrated a negative indirect relation between quantitative job insecurity and radical creativity via diminished career commitment. For qualitative job insecurity, by contrast, there was a negative indirect relation with incremental creativity via reduced organizational identification. Moreover, Study 2 revealed distinct moderators for these associations. Employees’ turnover risk propensity buffered the indirect connection between quantitative job insecurity and radical creativity, whereas Confucian traditionality mitigated the indirect relation between qualitative job insecurity and incremental creativity. These findings shed new light on the important role of job insecurity for individual employees’ creative performance and advance our theoretical understanding of the complexities underlying these linkages.

The impact of quantitative and qualitative job insecurity on employees’ mental health and critical work-related performance: Exploring the role of employability and gender differences

Further investigation is necessary due to the limited research on the long-term effects of job insecurity resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, this research employs the Self-regulation and JD-R theories to investigate the role of mental health (MH) in mediating the impact of quantitative job insecurity (QNJI) and qualitative JI (QLJI) on employees' task, creative, and pro-environmental performance, while also exploring the potential of perceived employability, considering gender differences, to aid employees in managing JI and mitigating its adverse effects on their MH. Data were collected from employees working in deluxe hotels in China. The findings indicate that individuals' perception of their employability influences the impact of QNJI on MH. However, there is no interaction between QLJI and employability on MH. This study represents one of the initial investigations on QLJI and QNJI and indicates that managers must comprehensively understand JI's impact on employees' productivity, particularly in times of crisis.

The Impact of Privatization on Employee Job Insecurity: The Case of the Healthcare Sector in Saudi Arabia

Research has discussed several aspects of privatization in developed and developing countries. In this study, we build on the Psychological Contract Theory and the Human Capital Theory, as well as research on proactive behavior and self-concepts, to examine how understanding privatization impacts the quantitative and qualitative job insecurity of employees in the healthcare sector in Saudi Arabia during the privatization process. Using a sample of 136 employees, our results show that understanding the concept of privatization in general is negatively related to quantitative job insecurity. and knowing the nuances of privatization of the healthcare sector impacts quantitative, but not qualitative, job insecurity. This study makes several theoretical contributions to the literature on privatization, human resources, and organizational behavior. This study also provides useful practical implications for policymakers and managers.

The effect of job insecurity on organizational trust during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from the aviation sector

Due to the novel COVID-19, millions of workers in the aviation industry have lost their jobs, and most of the remaining employees experience unemployment anxiety. This study aims to investigate the effects of job insecurity on both managerial and organizational trust and the mediating role of unemployment anxiety in hopes of improving employees’ well-being and promoting business continuity. In this cross-sectional study, the convenient sampling method was adopted. The research was conducted with the participation of aviation sector employees (n=210) of ground handling companies located in Turkiye. The Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was performed on the collected data for hypothesis testing. As per the results obtained from the study, quantitative job insecurity increases pessimism and adversely affects managerial trust and organizational trust (through managerial trust). Moreover, qualitative insecurity increases optimism, which adversely affects managerial trust. Managerial trust affects organizational trust positively. This study reveals that qualitative job insecurity led the employees to retain optimism but damaged both management and organizational trust during the COVID-19 pandemic. Quantitative job insecurity, on the other hand, caused pessimism and, as a result, affected managerial trust negatively.

Behavioral Reactions to Job Insecurity Climate Perceptions: Exit, Voice, Loyalty, and Neglect.

Past work has extensively documented that job insecurity predicts various work- and health-related outcomes. However, limited research has focused on the potential consequences of perceived job insecurity climate. Our objective was to investigate how the psychological climate about losing a job and valuable job features (quantitative and qualitative job insecurity climate, respectively) relate to employees' exit, voice, loyalty, and neglect behaviors, and whether such climate perceptions explain additional variance in these behaviors over individual job insecurity. Data were collected through an online survey using a convenience sample of employees working in different organizations in Türkiye (N = 245). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that quantitative job insecurity climate was associated with higher levels of loyalty and neglect, while qualitative job insecurity climate was related to higher levels of exit and lower levels of loyalty. Importantly, job insecurity climate explained additional variance over individual job insecurity in exit and loyalty. Our findings underscore the importance of addressing job insecurity in a broader context regarding one's situation and the psychological collective climate. This study contributes to addressing the knowledge gap concerning job insecurity climate, an emerging construct in the organizational behavior literature, and its incremental impact beyond individual job insecurity. The foremost implication is that organizations need to pay attention to the evolving climate perceptions about the future of jobs in the work environment, because such perceptions are related to critical employee behaviors.

A Person-Centered Approach to Job Insecurity: Is There a Reciprocal Relationship between the Quantitative and Qualitative Dimensions of Job Insecurity?

Radical transformations in the current work model induce qualitative job insecurity (i.e., a threat to job characteristics) and strengthen quantitative job insecurity (i.e., a threat to job loss). Both dimensions are separate yet interdependent work stressors. Although organisational changes are often the core source for both types of job insecurity, it is predominantly a subjective experience-individual perception ultimately determines the risk and the consequences of these threats. So far, the between-person analysis suggests that the relationship between the two dimensions is in both directions. However, it is not clear whether these associations also reflect within-person processes. This study proposes and tests the reciprocal relationship between quantitative and qualitative job insecurity at the within-person level. We employed a multiple indicator random-intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) to test these associations within-person while controlling for between-person differences. We used three-wave longitudinal data (6 months' time lag) collected from a Belgian working population (N = 3694). The results suggest a unidirectional relationship (from quantitative to qualitative job insecurity). Furthermore, the results reveal significant within-person carry-over effects of quantitative job insecurity but not for qualitative job insecurity. Overall, these results suggest that a change in the experience of threats to job loss (i.e., higher-than-usual quantitative job insecurity) not only anticipates higher-than-usual threats to job loss (autoregressive paths) but also higher-than-usual threats to job characteristics (i.e., qualitative job insecurity), six months later. This study contributes to the ongoing discussion on how job insecurity dimensions influence each other. Given these results and the continuous changes to how we work, we call for further research to better understand the within-person processes of job insecurity development.

Do they need us? Linking functional indispensability and voice behavior: The role of psychological ownership, job insecurity and organizational ambidexterity

This study looked into how workers’ perception of their team’s functional indispensability motivates them to engage in promotive voice behavior. The mediating role of psychological ownership and the moderator roles of job insecurity and organizational ambidexterity were also examined. Data from 820 Portuguese workers from different business sectors were analyzed using multiple regression techniques. Results indicate that perceived functional indispensability is positively associated with employee voice behavior, and this relationship is mediated by increased psychological ownership of the organization. Moreover, quantitative job insecurity weakens the link between indispensability and ownership, while ambidexterity reinforces the relationship between indispensability and voice.

Perceived job insecurity and task performance: what aspect of performance is related to which facet of job insecurity.

Employee task performance is considered to be of crucial importance for organizational survival and growth, at the same time, the struggle for organizational survival and growth most especially in the current economic climate gives rise to perceptions of job insecurity among employees thereby making the perception of job insecurity a relevant topic. This study examined the effect of perceived job insecurity on task performance. In addition, the effect of both quantitative and qualitative facets of job insecurity on the different components of task performance, was investigated. By making use of the multi-stage sampling technique, a total of 342 employees with age range of 23 to 46years were proportionately selected from the cluster that represents each bank. Furthermore, the close ended and structured questionnaire was utilized in a descriptive cross-sectional research design to elicit responses from these employees. Based on the regression analysis conducted, it was revealed that while perceived job insecurity as a uni-dimensional construct exercise a significant and negative effect on task performance, both quantitative and qualitative job insecurity also have a significant and negative effect on this performance with the later, found to exercise a stronger negative impact. Furthermore, results also indicate that while quantitative job insecurity is more negatively related with the job quality component of performance, both job quantity and job time limit are more negatively related with qualitative job insecurity. To conclude, recommendations were made on the need for organizations to focus intervention on antecedents of job insecurity which have been classified as macro level, micro level and personality factors with the view of reducing the incidence of perceived job insecurity. It was also recommended that managers should endeavor to concentrate more resources on those employees who suffer from qualitative job insecurity whenever there is a need to make use of these interventions, while also being in cognizant of the fact that a different level of intervention is required for employees with different level of job quality, job quantity and job time limit.

Desperate Times, Desperate Measures: Exploring the Dark Side of Job Embeddedness During COVID-19 Pandemic

Drawing upon the conservation of resource (COR) theory, the purpose of the article is to explore how the two dimensions of job insecurity, that is, quantitative, and qualitative insecurity relate to unethical pro-organisational behaviour (UPB). The study further aims to investigate if job embeddedness moderates the relationship between two forms of insecurity and UPB. The hypotheses were tested with three wave survey data collected from 354 employees during the period of strict lockdown in India when all the employees were working from home. The main and interaction effects were analysed with regression analysis on PROCESS v 3.0 macro. Quantitative job insecurity was seen to influence UPB positively, whereas no significant relation was found between qualitative insecurity and UPB. The two dimensions of job insecurity and UPB were moderated by job embeddedness such that the association was greater for employees who were more embedded. The results point towards the ‘dark side’ of embeddedness which may have deleterious effects for the organisation in the form of UPB.

Job insecurity, emotional exhaustion, and workplace deviance: The role of corporate social responsibility.

Job insecurity is one of top concerns in the contemporary workplace, which significantly affects emotional exhaustion and workplace deviance. Thus, this study seeks to explore the buffering role of employees' corporate social responsibility (CSR) perceptions to against the effect of job insecurity. Based on micro-CSR literature and social identity theory, this study tested the proposition that employees' CSR perceptions moderate the relationship between job insecurity and emotional exhaustion through organizational identification. Using three-wave data collected from 145 employees in one of China's biggest computer equipment providers, we found that employees' CSR perceptions alleviate (exacerbate) the negative relationship between quantitative (qualitative) job insecurity and emotional exhaustion via organization identification. Our findings provided new insights to scholars and managers in dealing with job insecurity.

How does job insecurity cause unethical pro-organizational behavior? The mediating role of impression management motivation and the moderating role of organizational identification.

This study aims to examine the effect of quantitative and qualitative job insecurity on unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB), focusing on the mediating effect of impression management motivation and the moderating effect of organizational identification. A two-wave questionnaire survey is conducted, and data from 254 employees of Chinese enterprises are used to test the research hypotheses. Empirical results show that: (1) Quantitative job insecurity has a significant positive effect on UPB, while positive effect of qualitative job insecurity on UPB is insignificant. (2) Quantitative job insecurity positively affects impression management motivation and increases UPB. Although the direct effect of qualitative job insecurity on UPB is insignificant, it positively affects UPB through impression management motivation. (3) Organizational identification plays a positive moderation role in the relationship between impression management motivation and employees’ UPB, that is, high-degree organizational identification leads to a strong effect of impression management motivation on UPB; furthermore, organizational identification moderates the mediating role of impression management motivation in the relationships between quantitative, qualitative job insecurity, and UPB, such that the effect is strong when organizational identification is high, rather than low. This study compares the effect of quantitative and qualitative job insecurity on employees’ UPB, reveals that impression management motivation is the key mechanism of quantitative and qualitative job insecurity affecting UPB, and points out the moderating effect of organizational identification, which offers implications for organizational management practices.

The Effects of Job Insecurity on Employee Voice Behavior

In this study, we examined the curvilinear relationship between employees insecurity and voice behavior. Meanwhile, we investigated the meditated influence of organization-based self-esteem and felt obligation for constructive change. Results totally supported this framework. Specifically, they include: (1) quantitative job insecurity was associated with promotive voice and prohibitive voice in the inverted U-shaped relationship; (2) qualitative job insecurity was negatively correlated with promotive voice and prohibitive voice; (3) the organization-based self-esteem and the felt obligation for constructive change played a mediated role in the relation of job insecurity and employee voice behavior. Implication and limitations, as well as future directions were discussed by the end.

The Effects of Job Insecurity on Employee Voice Behavior

In this study, we examined the curvilinear relationship between employees insecurity and voice behavior. Meanwhile, we investigated the meditated influence of organization-based self-esteem and felt obligation for constructive change. Results totally supported this framework. Specifically, they include: (1) quantitative job insecurity was associated with promotive voice and prohibitive voice in the inverted U-shaped relationship; (2) qualitative job insecurity was negatively correlated with promotive voice and prohibitive voice; (3) the organization-based self-esteem and the felt obligation for constructive change played a mediated role in the relation of job insecurity and employee voice behavior. Implication and limitations, as well as future directions were discussed by the end.

Does a stick work? A meta‐analytic examination of curvilinear relationships between job insecurity and employee workplace behaviors

SummaryThe job insecurity literature has been limited by the dominant linear view on the effects of job insecurity and the misconception that the conceptualizations and operationalizations of job insecurity across studies are homogenous. To challenge these two assumptions, we contrast the integrated perspective based on social exchange theory and job preservation motivation with activation theory and propose competing hypotheses for the curvilinear relationships between job insecurity and employee behavioral outcomes, including task performance, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), creative performance, safety behavior, and counterproductive work behavior (CWB). We also examine the moderating roles of different conceptualizations of job insecurity (i.e., cognitive vs. affective job insecurity; quantitative vs. qualitative job insecurity) in the proposed curvilinear relationships. Our meta‐analysis demonstrates that the negative relationships of job insecurity with task performance and OCB‐organization turn positive after inflection points, supporting the integrated perspective of social exchange theory and job preservation motivation but not activation theory. Moreover, the negative relationships of job insecurity with OCB‐individual and creative performance turn nonsignificant as job insecurity further increases. Finally, job insecurity has a linear, negative relationship with safety behavior, but a linear, positive relationship with CWB‐organization. Interestingly, affective job insecurity has lower inflection points than cognitive job insecurity, and qualitative job insecurity has lower inflection points than quantitative job insecurity. This study provides a deep and fine‐grained understanding of the curvilinear relationships between job insecurity and workplace behaviors and pushes the literature forward by focusing on the nuanced differences among various types of job insecurity.

Do Qualitative and Quantitative Job Insecurity Influence Hotel Employees’ Green Work Outcomes?

The extant literature lacks evidence concerning the effects of qualitative and quantitative job insecurity (JIS) on service workers’ performance outcomes. This is also true for their effects on green work outcomes. To fill in this void, drawing on social information processing, threat-rigidity, and the reformulation of attitude theories as well as the model of attitude–behavior relation, this paper proposes and tests a research model that investigates the effects of both qualitative and quantitative JIS simultaneously on green work outcomes. Data gathered from hotel employees during the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey were utilized to gauge the hypothesized associations through structural equation modeling. The findings suggest that quantitative JIS weakens harmonious environmental passion, green recovery performance, and proactive pro-environmental behavior. In addition, harmonious environmental passion mediates the impact of quantitative JIS on the aforementioned green work consequences. Contrary to the predictions, the findings lend no credence to the negative impact of qualitative JIS on harmonious environmental passion, green recovery performance, and proactive pro-environmental behavior.

Employees' job insecurity perception and unsafe behaviours in human–machine collaboration

PurposeThis study aimed to explore the relationship between job insecurity and unsafe behaviour in human–machine collaboration, as well as investigating the mediating roles of emotional exhaustion and moderating roles of psychological detachment.Design/methodology/approachThe authors followed the stressor-detachment model to build our research model. The authors selected manufacturing and service industry employees as samples, and designed three independent studies using the time-lagged method for SPSS and AMOS to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe results indicated that emotional exhaustion mediated the relationship between the two types of job insecurity and unsafe behaviours among service industry employees, while psychological detachment moderated the effect of qualitative job insecurity on emotional exhaustion. In manufacturing, psychological detachment moderated the effect of quantitative job insecurity on emotional exhaustion, while emotional exhaustion mediated the relationship between quantitative job insecurity and unsafe behaviours.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors enhance understandings of how individual employee characteristics and the work environment jointly influence employees' levels of emotional exhaustion and likelihood of engaging in unsafe behaviours under the stressor-detachment model.Practical implicationsThe authors suggest an important role of psychological detachment in human–machine collaboration. The authors also that organisations and managers could encourage employees not to check work-related emails on weekends to achieve full detachment.Originality/valueThis study contributes to both the stressor-detachment model and job insecurity literature. In addition, it investigates the role of detachment and emotional exhaustion by employees in human–machine collaboration.