6533b7dbfe1ef96bd1270295

RESEARCH PRODUCT

The consequences of job insecurity for employees: The moderator role of job dependence

subject

description

With globalization and increased international competition have come more flexible forms of employment and increased job insecurity. The authors address the impact of perceived job insecurity on employees' work attitudes and intentions. After reviewing relevant research on stress theory and the relationship between job insecurity and its consequences, they test two hypotheses on 942 employees in Spain, namely: first, that job insecurity relates negatively to job satisfaction and organiza- tional commitment and positively to intention to leave; and, second, that job insecur- ity, economic need and employability interact in the prediction of these outcomes. s a result of globalization and international competition, the labour mar- A ket has undergone rapid change over recent decades. Organizations have therefore had recourse to various measures to reduce costs and increase efficiency, for example downsizing, restructuring, merging, privatization and outsourcing (Hellgren and Sverke, 2003; Allen et al., 2001; Reisel and Banai, 2002; Tivendell and Bourbonnais, 2000; Probst, 2003). Out of these transform- ations there have emerged new forms of employment relationship based on flexi- bility - and these can increase workers' feelings of insecurity about actual jobs (Sverke and Goslinga, 2003; Chirumbolo and Hellgren, 2003). Job insecurity has been defined as "perceived powerlessness to maintain desired continuity in a threatened job situation" (Greenhalgh and Rosenblatt, 1984, p. 438). In re- sponse to job insecurity, workers' attitudes evolve in ways that can have import- ant consequences for their health and behaviour (Davy, Kinicki and Scheck,