Job insecurity: Review of the international literature on definitions, prevalence, antecedents and consequences

By Hans De Witte. 2005

691 citations recorded by the source corpus.

This article reviews the literature on job insecurity. After defining the concept and its components, the prevalence of job insecurity among workers is discussed. Next, various antecedents are charted, and the consequences of job insecurity for the health and well-being of individuals and for their attitudes and behaviours towards organizations are discussed. Finally, some practical suggestions are made in order to reduce the harmful effects of insecurity, and some suggestions for future research are formulated. The focus of this review article is on studies from Europe and the U.S. As such, it aims to introduce the field of job insecurity to South African researchers. Opsomming Die artikel gee ’n oorsig van die literatuur oor werksonsekerheid. Na die defineering van die konsep en die komponente, word die voorkoms van werksonsekerheid onder werknemers bespreek. Volgende word verskeie antesedente bespreek, en die gevolge van werksonsekerheid op die gesondheid en welstand van individue, hul gesindhede en hul gedrag teenoor die organisasie bespreek. Laastens word daar ’n paar praktiese voorstelle gemaak om die skadelike gevolge van onsekerheid te verminder, asook voorstelle vir toekomstige navorsing. Die fokus van hierdie oorsig artikel is op studies in Europa and die VSA gemaak, en as sulks beoog dit om die veld van werksonsekerheid aan Suid-Afrikaanse navorsers voor te stel.

Subfields: General Health Professions, Radiological and Ultrasound Technology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/a90f07b555d8d95f10336f618c831707648a0070

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In General Health Professions

In Radiological and Ultrasound Technology

Citations in the corpus

Literature Review of Theory and Research on the Psychological Impact of Temporary Employment: Towards a Conceptual Model (2008, neutral): “…psychological distress, health (Bernhard-Oettel et al. 2005; Sverke et al. 2000; Virtanen et al. 2002) and turnover intention (De Cuyper and De Witte 2005): permanent workers experience higher distress and poorer health, and are more inclined to quit the company when feeling insecure than are…”
A Systematic Review of the Career Adaptability Literature and Future Outlook (2018, background): “In the case of job insecurity, individuals fear losing their jobs and they anticipate the loss of the benefits associated with work, but the situation is still uncertain (DeWitte, 2005; Greenhalgh & Rosenblatt, 2010).”
The role of organizational communication and participation in reducing job insecurity and its negative association with work-related well-being (2010, background): “Many scholars have brought the importance of organizational communication and participation in job insecure situations to the fore (Ashford et al., 1989; De Witte, 2005; Sverke and Hellgren, 2002).”
Investigating the relationship between employability and self-efficacy: A cross-lagged analysis (2008, background): “Such attention is largely due to the types of changes taking place in the labour market, including deteriorating job security (De Witte, 2005), increased flexibility (Castells, 2000; Sundin & Wikman, 2004), and the trend towards greater individualization (Allvin, 2004).”
On the reciprocal relationship between job insecurity and employee well‐being: Mediation by perceived control? (2014, background): “After all, job insecure employees do not know whether they will lose their job in future or not (Dekker & Schaufeli, 1995), and job insecurity largely results from unchangeable external factors (e.g., financial difficulties in the organization; De Witte, 2005).”
Effect of job insecurity on frontline employee’s performance: Looking through the lens of psychological strains and leverages (2017, background): “Probst (2002) believed that job insecurity refers to the perceived instability and discontinuity of job, whereas De Witte (2005) described it as a severe work stress that contains of cognitive probability of losing work and impressive experiences that are associated to it.”