03.11.2021

Job Insecurity and Its Consequences for Individual Well-being, Performance, and Attitudes Towards Society

Main event: WIFO Research Seminar
Organised by: Austrian Institute of Economic Research
Persons: Eva Selenko
Österreichisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung
Research question(s): What is the individual-level consequences of job insecurity, and how can these be explained? • Approach (empirical or theoretical models, simulation, etc.): This talk will give an overview over psychological research on job insecurity and its multiple consequences for individuals. It will focus foremostly on perceived subjective job insecurity embedded in an economic and regional context and offer psychological models to better understand its consequences. • Data (if empirical, what data is used; level of aggregation; most important variables): The talk will mostly draw on longitudinal quantitative surveys conducted among employees of different occupations and with different levels of job insecurity. It will also include findings of country-level/regional surveys and experimental studies to highlight the contextual influence on individual perception. Issues of endogeneity will be discussed. • Main result(s): Subjectively perceived job insecurity has mainly detrimental health and organizational behavioural outcomes, and certainly no motivational potential. Moreover, due to its identity threatening aspect, job insecurity can affect outcomes also outside work, including political attitudes and tolerance towards others. • Policy implication(s) (if any): Policymakers need to be aware that a rise in perceived job insecurity will bring detrimental health and performance consequences and might also undermine people's political attitudes and trust in the state over the longer term.