essay about job insecurity

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Job Insecurity Harms Both Employees and Employers

• Mindy Shoss,
• Shiyang Su,
• Ann Schlotzhauer,
• Nicole Carusone

Many organizations make no secret of their strategic use of the threat of job loss to motivate employees. But new research suggests that this isn’t just cruel — it’s often counterproductive.

Despite the well-documented negative effects of job insecurity on workers’ well-being, many employers continue to intentionally stoke fears of job loss among their workforce, under the assumption that this can motivate workers and reduce costs. But is this approach actually effective? The authors conducted a series of surveys with more than 600 American employees and found that while job insecure workers may indeed be motivated to try to improve their performance and adhere more closely to company policies, the stress, frustration, resentment, and exhaustion associated with this insecurity create a cognitive load that counteracts any positive effect on performance or rule-following. Job insecure workers are also more likely to focus on making their contributions visible rather than on actually doing valuable work, and some even hide information or intentionally sabotage their coworkers to make themselves look better in comparison. Worse yet, many of these behaviors spark vicious cycles that further reduce perceptions of job security. As such, the authors argue that fostering a sense of job insecurity isn’t just cruel — it’s often counterproductive.

According to a recent poll , 15% of U.S. workers today feel at risk of losing their jobs (despite actual unemployment rates remaining at record low levels). And this is no accident: Studies have shown that many workplaces intentionally stoke fears of job loss in an attempt to motivate workers and reduce costs, since job insecure workers may be less likely to demand raises and other benefits. Indeed, organizations such as Facebook and General Electric have made no secret of their strategic use of the threat of job loss to boost performance, despite the well-documented negative effects of job insecurity on employees’ sense of social connection, identity, and physical and mental health.

• MS Mindy Shoss is a professor of psychology at the University of Central Florida. Her research examines the future of work, worker well-being, job insecurity, and adaptation. She is a fellow of the Society for Industrial/Organizational Psychology.
• SS Shiyang Su is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Central Florida. Her research focuses on employee well-being, workplace incivility/mistreatment, and psychometrics.
• AS Ann Schlotzhauer is a doctoral candidate in Industrial and Organizational Psychology at the University of Central Florida. Her research focuses on precarious work, leadership, and diversity in the workplace.
• NC Nicole Carusone is a Senior Consultant at APTMetrics. She is an Industrial/Organizational Psychology practitioner who provides consulting and litigation support services in areas such as talent management, selection, and diversity, equity, and inclusion.

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Article contents

Job insecurity.

• Nele De Cuyper Nele De Cuyper KU Leuven
•  and  Hans De Witte Hans De Witte KU Leuven
• https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190236557.013.17
• Published online: 28 June 2021

Job insecurity has been high on the policy and research agenda since the 1980s: there has always been cause for concern about job loss, though those causes may vary across context and time. Job insecurity is particularly prevalent among employees with a more precarious profile, in particular employees in blue-collar positions or on temporary contracts, and among employees in jobs of lower quality. Job insecurity has typically been advanced as a stressor and a cause for imbalance in the employment relationship, which has led to the hypothesis that job insecurity induces strain (e.g., poorer health and well-being), poorer attitudes vis-à-vis the job and the organization (e.g., poorer organizational commitment), and poorer performance. This hypothesis has found overall support. In addition, job insecurity also threatens one’s identity, and this has been related to more conservative social attitudes and behaviors, for example, in terms of voting intentions and behavior. Finally, job insecurity affects outcomes beyond the current job and the organization: it affects other stakeholders, for example, labor unions and families, and it has scarring effects in the long term. Studies have also attempted to identify moderators that could buffer the relationship between job insecurity and outcomes; these mostly concern personal, job, and organizational resources. Other studies have sought to explain differences between countries in terms of both structural features and cultural values.

• labor market
• occupational health
• uncertainty
• performance

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Job insecurity and mental health: the moderating role of coping strategies from a gender perspective.

• 1 Department of Psychology, University of Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain
• 2 Department of Health Sciences, International University of La Rioja (UNIR), La Rioja, Spain

Job insecurity is a growing phenomenon, typical of an employment context characterised by high rates of temporary work and unemployment. Previous research has shown a direct relationship between job insecurity and mental health impairment. The present analysis goes into this relationship in depth, studying the moderating role of coping strategies and predicting that men and women implement different types of strategies. A sample of 1.008 workers is analysed, 588 women and 420 men. The Tobin CSI scale was used to analyse the coping strategies, in addition to JIS-8 to assess job insecurity, the MOS Perceived Social Support Survey and the GHQ-28 test to evaluate mental health. Then, a hierarchical linear regression was designed to study the moderating role of 8 coping strategies of job insecurity and 4 mental health subscales in men and women, separately. Results illustrate that coping strategies play a moderating role in the relationship between job insecurity and mental health. However, the aggravating role of disengagement coping strategies is more relevant than the buffering role of engagement strategies. On the other hand, women implement a greater number of coping strategies, with more positive results for mental health. Also, in the relationship between job insecurity and mental health the most important strategies are the ones related to social interaction inside and outside an organisation, and these are the main ones used by women. It therefore follows that strengthening rich social relationships inside and outside the working environment is a guarantee of well-being.

Introduction

The concept of job insecurity was first defined in the eighties as “the perceived powerlessness to maintain desired continuity in a threatened job situation” ( Greenhalgh and Rosenblatt, 1984 , 438). Since then, there is a trend to abandon the Keynesian job model, characterised by stable jobs and professional careers, in favour of a more flexible labour market that generates more unstable and precarious working conditions ( Burchell et al., 2014 ; Kim and von dem Knesebeck, 2015 ; Nielsen et al., 2015 ). Consequently, the interest in studying job insecurity has gradually increased, especially in the aftermath of the 2008 economic crisis, as since then, the number of research studies related to this topic has multiplied exponentially ( Llosa et al., 2018 ). Moreover, in countries and/or periods in which unemployment figures rise, a greater fear of job loss is observed among workers ( Keim et al., 2014 ). In this sense, job insecurity is a concept very much linked to precarious work, which highlights the worker’s perception of his/her employment situation. Thus, the individual’s subjectivity is linked to socioeconomic circumstances resulting in a psychosocial phenomenon of precarious work. Job insecurity has been studied as a stressor in the working environment ( Greenhalgh and Rosenblatt, 1984 ). As a generator of stress, there is evidence of manifold negative consequences on workers’ well-being and mental health ( Cheng and Chan, 2008 ; De Witte et al., 2016 ; Lee et al., 2018 ; Llosa et al., 2018 ), related both to depressive disorders ( Blom et al., 2015 ; Kim et al., 2017 ), and to anxiety ( Boya et al., 2008 ). It also has an impact on physical health, such as general physical well-being ( Henseke, 2018 ) or heart diseases ( Schnall et al., 2016 ).

This analysis aims to accurately identify the role played by coping strategies between men and women, when minimising or buffering the negative impact of precarious labour relations on mental health. In this manner, studying coping strategies represent one of the most accessible intervention pathways in any environment.

To approach coping strategies, this study is grounded in the theories of Lazarus and Folkman. These authors define coping strategies as “the constantly changing cognitive and behavioural efforts implemented to manage specific internal and external demands that are appraised as exceeding the resources of the person” ( Lazarus and Folkman, 1984 , 141). Edwards (1988) integrated this definition into the cybernetic theory of stress, considering coping as an effort to reduce or eliminate the negative effects of stress in a person’s well-being. According to several authors, it is what the observer sees, rather than the characteristics of the situation, that determines whether or not the circumstances are evaluated as stressful ( Lazarus and Folkman, 1984 ; Roskies et al., 1993 ; Lazarus, 1996 ).

The most widespread classification of coping strategies identifies two different types of strategies that may be implemented when faced with a stressful circumstance: problem-focused strategies and emotion-focused strategies ( Lazarus and Folkman, 1984 ). The former, geared toward changing the source of stress, generally come about when the source is perceived as subject to change. Emotion-focused strategies, in contrast, consist of regulating the emotional response to the problem, and they are more likely to be implemented when the situation is evaluated as unchanging. In a similar line, Pinquart and Silbereisen (2008) observed that depressive symptoms resulting from different stressful circumstances decreased when implementing one or other type of strategies, depending on whether the situation was perceived as unchanging or not. A third class has also been included, namely, the avoidance strategies, consistent in distancing themselves from the problem, both physically and cognitively ( Skinner et al., 2003 ).

In addition to this general classification, other strategies have been identified when faced with a stressful circumstance. Tobin et al. (1989) reviewed the primary strategies defined by previous authors to build the Coping Strategies Inventory (CSI), proposing eight strategies: Self-Criticism (cognitive strategies focused on criticising oneself and blaming oneself), Problem Solving (cognitive and behavioural strategies designed to eliminate the source of stress by changing the situation), Cognitive Restructuring (altering the meaning of the source of stress to perceive it as less threatening, for example, seeing the positive side), Express Emotions (exteriorising emotions and feeling), Social Support (seeking emotional support from family and friends), Wishful Thinking (cognitive strategies that reflect the desire for reality to be better), Social Withdrawal (isolating oneself socially from other people), and Problem Avoidance (denying the problem and avoiding thoughts or behaviours related to the source of stress). According to these authors, Self-Criticism, Wishful Thinking, Social Withdrawal and Problem Avoidance are strategies defined as disengagement strategies, and the others would be engagement strategies. In the scale adapted to Spanish, Cano-García et al. (2007) confirmed that the same strategies were present in other measurement tools such asWOC or COPE.

Coping Strategies and Job Insecurity

Several studies have demonstrated the moderating role of coping strategies in the relationship between job insecurity and mental health, although analysing the type of strategies under a general classification (emotion-focused or problem-focussed). Bosmans et al. (2015) conclude, after interviewing a group of workers from employment agencies, that the strategies implemented worsen or buffer mental health impairment due to precarious work. According to Richter et al. (2013) and Probst and Jiang (2016) , emotion-focused strategies are the most effective ones to reduce the negative consequences of job insecurity on workers’ well-being. However, problem-focused strategies would not always be effective because it is an uncontrollable stressor ( Vander Elst et al., 2014 ). Avoidance strategies, in turn, aggravate the problem. On their part, Cheng et al. (2014) establish that a set of strategies, which they called active strategies (symptom reduction, accommodation, changing the situation and devaluation), buffered the effects of job insecurity in some variables of psychological well-being in both work and home domains. Furthermore, the authors underscore that the avoidance strategy, catalogued as inactive, induces the opposite effect. These authors highlight the need to use a more specific strategic approach, as they do in their study, instead of just focusing on traditional global categories: emotion-focused or problem-focused. Thus, our research aims to make this approach where the specific strategies that influence the relationship between job insecurity and mental health are considered.

Job Insecurity and Gender

The social dimension of job insecurity means that it is not a phenomenon alien to gender inequalities. Although recent research studies establish that men and women have similar levels of fear of job loss ( Rigotti et al., 2015 ), it has not been analysed whether the use of these strategies affects health in a different way in men and women when the stressor is the anticipation of job loss. Previous studies have focused on gender differences in terms of strategies implemented when faced by stressful events in general. For example, it has been found that women tend to use more strategies than men, both problem-focused and emotion-focused strategies, and they seek more emotional support ( Tamres et al., 2002 ). At the same time, Matud (2004) underscores that the social support strategy and the problem avoidance strategy are specific strategies linked, to a great extent, to women. However, strategies should play an efficient role, namely, to reduce stress, and in this sense, Gattino et al. (2015) found that emotional and instrumental social support strategies are the ones that have the greatest influence on women’s quality of life. However, in the case of men, this well-being is significantly impaired if they use self-criticism as a strategy. Such differences would respond to socialisation on the basis of some pre-established roles, which have two effects: on the one hand, they mean that people are taught different coping styles depending on the allocated gender ( Nelson and Burke, 2002 ); and, on the other hand, generally speaking, men and women do not cope with the same kind of stressors, so the strategies implemented are also different ( Banyard and Graham-Bermann, 1993 ; Matud, 2004 ). However, our study analyses the same kind of stressor, in such a manner that we control this second effect. Knowing this relationship between coping strategies and gender, in our study we want to analyse how their efficacy varies in men and women.

Social Support as a Differential Coping Strategy Between Men and Women

In the study of job insecurity, social support has been one of the main coping strategies addressed. Social support develops differently in men and women. It is defined as “a social network’s provision of psychological and material resources intended to benefit an individual’s ability to cope with stress” ( Cohen, 2004 , 676). Several studies have demonstrated that social support decreases the negative effects of job insecurity ( Lim, 1996 ; Snow et al., 2003 ; Näswall et al., 2005a ; Sora et al., 2011 ), and this strategy is used more often, and also more efficiently, by women ( Matud, 2004 ). In this manner, in our study social support could be more effective in women when they face job insecurity.

There are different types and sources of social support, although in our study two measures of this variable are used: on the one hand, social support as a coping strategy, and, on the other hand, perceived social support (PSS), which refers to the emotional, instrumental and affective resources that a person has ( Sherbourne and Stewart, 1991 ). Thus, although PSS is related to the way in which people feel supported and protected socially, the social support strategy refers to the use we make of those networks. In this sense, Cohen and Wills (1985) suggested that PSS has direct effects on well-being, whereas received social support has protective effects against stress. According to Lakey and Heller (1988) , the latter has an influence on coping behaviours, whereas the former has an impact on processes of cognitive evaluation. However, the support specificity model proposed by Cohen and McKay (1984) establishes that for social support to be effective, it should be accommodated to the specific stressor and circumstance. This different effect could occur in coping with job insecurity, so it will also be testedin this study.

The research question posed is which coping strategies reduce the impact of job insecurity on mental health, and whether there are gender differences between them. Therefore, the main objective is to perform a comparative study between men and women to analyse the moderating role of coping strategies in the relationship between job insecurity and mental health in a sample of Spanish workers. To this end, the following hypotheses are formulated:

H1: Job insecurity is related to higher scores on health scales (somatic symptoms, anxiety, social dysfunction and depression) in men and women alike.

H2: Engagement coping strategies are related to lower scores on health scales, whereas disengagement ones are related to higher scores, in women and men.

H3: Coping strategies play a moderating role in the relationship between job insecurity and health in a different way in men and women.

H4: Coping strategies related to social interaction play a more relevant role, in terms of moderation between job insecurity and mental health, in women than in men.

H5: Perceived social support plays a moderating role in the relationship between job insecurity and mental health.

To date, there are no research studies that provide a specific and detailed approach regarding coping strategies related to the relationship between job insecurity and mental health. This study aims, therefore, to compile different designs used in previous studies to provide new and more practical knowledge of interventions when job insecurity occurs. Following the recommendations of Richter et al. (2013) and Cheng et al. (2014) , the aim of this study is to provide knowledge about the moderating role played by specific coping strategies in terms of the relationship between job insecurity and health. To guide the implications of our results toward a practical intervention approach, the major strategy taxonomies are not analysed (problem-focused and emotion-focused, or engagement and disengagement strategies). The analysis of PSS has also been included to verify the relationship between having this kind of support and using it effectively as a strategy when faced with a stressor such as job insecurity. Finally, gender differences are examined to establish whether social processes leading to gender inequality have an influence on the strategies implemented to cope with job insecurity, and, if so, explain such deviation.

Materials and Methods

Participants.

The sample includes 1008 participants belonging to the Spanish population. Of the total, 420 are men (41.7%) and 588 women (58.3%), aged between 18 and 63 years of age, with a mean of 36.05. At the time of the study, all the subjects were working. To know the profile of the workers participating in the study, the working characteristics and conditions of the sample are compiled in Table 1 .

Table 1. Percentage distributions, means, and Standard Deviations of labour profiles of the sample.

The procedure applied was causal and quota sampling. To this end, the profile of participants required for the study was defined and, then, the people voluntarily completed a self-administered questionnaire. Participants were informed that the data would only be used for research purposes. This research study follows the protocols and requisites of the Ethics Committee of the Department of Psychology of the University of Oviedo (Spain).

Coping Strategies

The CSI by Tobin et al. (1989) was used to measure the coping strategies. The Spanish version has been validated by Cano-García et al. (2007) , and includes 40 items in a 5-point Likert scale format. This scale permits measuring 8 specific coping strategies: Problem Solving (α = 0.82), Self-Criticism (α = 0.94), Express Emotions (α = 0.89), Wishful Thinking (α = 0.78), Social Support strategy (α = 0.89), Cognitive Restructuring (α = 0.83), Problem Avoidance (α = 0.72), and Social Withdrawal (α = 0.81). The authors who validated the Spanish version highlight that these strategies are similar to the ones used in other tools, such as the ways of coping (WOC) ( Folkman and Lazarus, 1980 ) and the COPE ( Carver et al., 1989 ), and that they may be accepted as generic strategies to cope with stressful circumstances.

Mental Health

The General Health Questionnaire GHQ-28 ( Goldberg and Hillier, 1979 ) was used, adapted to the Spanish population by Retolaza Balsategui et al. (1993) . This version includes 28 items and it has a Likert type 4 alternative response format. It measures the general mental health condition in the non-clinical population, obtaining both a general score and four specific scores based on subscales: somatic symptoms, anxiety and insomnia, social dysfunction and severe depression. This scale is widely used in research in psychology with a 0.90 reliability rate in the Spanish adaptation. Subscales are used as independent variables to understand the subject matter in greater detail.

Job Insecurity

JIS-8 or 8-item version Job Insecurity Scale, developed by Pienaar et al. (2013) was used. It has a Likert type 5 response alternative format. It offers a global score and it also measures two dimensions of job insecurity: the cognitive dimension, made up of the first 4 items, and the affective dimension, which includes the 4 remaining items. It has been validated to the Spanish population by Llosa et al. (2017) , resulting in a reliability score of 0.88 for the global score, which has been used in this study.

Perceived Social Support

This has been measured using the MOS Scale of PSS ( Sherbourne and Stewart, 1991 ), validated to the Spanish population by Revilla Ahumada et al. (2005) with an internal consistency close to 1. It includes 20 items: one with open-ended response and 19 Likert type from 1 to 5.

Data Analysis

A hierarchical linear regression was performed to study the moderating role of the eight coping strategies between job insecurity and the four mental health subscales. Following recommendations by Cohen et al. (2003) , the predictive variable (job insecurity) and the moderators (each of the coping strategies and PSS) were centred. Thus, the interpretation of the results is facilitated and multicollinearity among the predictive variables is reduced ( Aiken et al., 1991 ). The regression analysis was performed in four stages: first, the job insecurity variable was introduced, based on the global score on the JIS-8 scale. Secondly, the second variable of PSS was added. Then, the eight coping strategies were introduced, and finally, the interaction between job insecurity and each of the coping strategies, as well as the variable of PSS.

Table 2 shows the means, standard deviations and correlations of all the variables included in the study, segregated by genders. The regression results are shown in Table 3 for men and Table 4 for women.

Table 2. Correlations, means, and Standard Deviations of the variable included in the study by gender.

Table 3. Results of hierarchical regression analysis for job insecurity, coping strategies and GHQ-28 subscales for men (standardised coefficients).

Table 4. Results of hierarchical regression analysis for job insecurity.

It is observed that job insecurity (JI) has direct effects on the different areas of mental health evaluated, in men as well as in women. This variable explains between 4 and 8% of the variance in somatic symptoms, anxiety and social dysfunction in men, and in this group it shows a greater weight in depression (β = 0.280). In women, it explains between 2 and 5% in the same variables, and its weight is greater in anxiety and insomnia (β = 0.223). PSS is also statistically significant in all the dependent variables, as well as in both samples, increasing the explained variance percentage for all of them.

In terms of the group of strategies, analysed in stage 3, the main difference between the groups is the existence of a greater variety of statistically significant strategies in the subscales of the female sample. Thus, self-criticism (SC) is the most relevant variable in women, as it is significant in more mental health scores. It is followed by cognitive restructuring (CR) and express emotions (EE). In men, the strategies that are significant in more mental health subscales are wishful thinking (WT) and social withdrawal (SW). If we consider the dependent variables with a greater number of predictive strategies, in the case of men, they are anxiety and insomnia, and social dysfunction, whereas in women the four subscales show a similar influence, anxiety and insomnia being altered by a greater number of strategies.

As for stage 4, where the moderating role of strategies between job insecurity and health subscales is studied, this relationship is only observed in some strategies. There are certain differences between the groups. In men, only problem solving (PS) seems to interact when it is related to job insecurity and severe depression. In women, all the dependent variables are affected: problem avoidance (PA) increases somatic symptoms when it interacts with job insecurity (β = -0.097); anxiety and insomnia decrease with the social support strategy (SS) (β = 0.135); social dysfunction is reduced with the social support strategy (SS) (β = 0.130) and problem solving (PS) (β = 0.125), and it gets worse with wishful thinking (WT) (β = -0.117). Finally, problem solving (PS) is moderated with severe depression (β = 0.136), as occurs in men. No interaction has been observed between the PSS variable (PSS) and job insecurity that is statistically significant in the mental health variables.

The aim of this study was to identify coping strategies capable of buffering the impact of job insecurity on different mental health areas and determine whether or not there were gender differences. The results provide relevant knowledge to scientific literature related to the study of job insecurity, as well as the practical implications to reduce the effects of this phenomenon on workers’ mental health.

In general, it has been found that women possess a greater variety of coping strategies that play a moderating role between job insecurity and mental health, whereas men only have one, social withdrawal, which is also significant in the female group. The most relevant strategies to cope with job insecurity and to prevent the development of mental disorders are social withdrawal and social support. Moreover, it is observed that the role of disengagement coping strategies is more relevant than the role of engagement coping strategies in terms of a moderating effect. The most relevant findings, however, are linked to strategies focused on social interaction, a type of strategy used mainly by women. This shows that strategies related to the collective scale are more useful than those developed individually, which should guide organisational interventions.

Results confirm that job insecurity is a relevant stressor, reinforcing the conclusions obtained in previous studies that also showed these negative consequences of job insecurity on mental and physical health ( De Witte et al., 2016 ; Schnall et al., 2016 ; Kim et al., 2017 ; Llosa et al., 2018 ). This study illustrates that it is a phenomenon that has an impact on workers’ mental health in its different indicators, in men and in women. Thus, there is full compliance with H1.

Regarding coping strategies, its direct relationship with health is also confirmed. Moreover, there is a greater variety in terms of the number and types of strategies that have an effect on women’s health, thus fully complying with H2. This result is similar to the one found by other research studies such as the study by Tamres et al. (2002) , although these authors referred to general stressors, while we focus on a specific source of stress, namely, job insecurity. Express emotions appears to be a relevant strategy, as these authors had shown, as well as Matud (2004) , because express emotions and social support are strategies that are implemented mostly by women to cope with stressful circumstances. In this group, it has been observed that self-criticism is the emotional reaction that impairs mental health the most, contrasting with the findings of Gattino et al. (2015) , who concluded that this strategy had a greater impact on men’s quality of life. In our case, social withdrawal is the strategy with the most significant effect on men’s mental health.

H3 and H4 refer to the moderating role of coping strategies in the relationship between job insecurity and mental health. H3 is complied with, as a different effect has been found between men and women, that is, neither the number nor the type of significant strategies are the same in both genders. Just as there is a greater number of coping strategies directly related to women’s health, it was observed that this relationship is maintained in their moderating role. In the case of men, the only strategy that worsens severe depression symptoms when related to job insecurity is the social withdrawal strategy. In women, avoidance and wishful thinking play a moderating role, but social support and social withdrawal strategies are more relevant because they are related to at least two mental health areas. Therefore, H4 is partially complied with. These latter strategies –social support and social withdrawal-were previously associated with female coping ( Matud, 2004 ). In terms of PSS, this variable does directly have a relevant and positive effect on mental health. However, this variable does not act as a buffer for the consequences of job insecurity, and therefore, H5 is not complied with.

Although the aim of the study was to analyse specific strategies, an interesting result has been found with regard to its general classification. The same pattern is observed in terms of the general effect of the strategies on health and in their moderating role with respect to job insecurity: the aggravating effect of disengagement strategies is greater than the buffering effect of the engagement strategies. The only beneficial strategy for mental health to cope with job insecurity is the social support strategy. In contrast, when comparing this strategy with the results related to PSS, a discrepancy is found. Noteworthy is the difference between the PSS (the perception of having a support network) and the social support strategy (not only the existence of a support network, but that the person uses it).

Perceived social support has a direct impact on the mental health of both men and women, whereas the social support strategy does not. However, to mitigate the effects of job insecurity, the relationship is inverted: social support as a strategy acts as a buffer in women, whereas PSS does not fulfil that role in any of the groups. These results confirm the hypothesis of Cohen and Wills (1985) , who explained a functioning and role for each type of support that was similar to the one we have obtained. Thus, to cope with job insecurity, it does not suffice to have a social support network, but rather, individuals should actively resort to it to cope with the analysed stressor. This could be explained by the family being an important source of social support, although having family responsibilities is a risk factor for the development of job insecurity ( Sverke and Hellgren, 2002 ).

With regard to the discrepancy between men and women, a possible explanation could result from the relationship between gender roles and strategies. There is a path of study on coping strategies that states that these are more effective when a gender implements strategies typical of the roles in which they have socialised ( Lengua and Stormshak, 2000 ). According to this theory, women would be more successful when using more emotional strategies, including social support, and men when using strategies more focused on action ( Nelson and Burke, 2002 ; Gattino et al., 2015 ). However, we have seen that, to cope with job insecurity, in the case of men there are no more efficient strategies, the withdrawal strategy being the only relevant one, which implies rejecting social support. We have observed that this is related to the development of severe depression, especially in men. On the other hand, one of the characteristics of job insecurity is that it is a non-controllable stressor ( Vander Elst et al., 2014 ),and therefore, the strategies that are more focused on problem solving, more widely used by men, would not be more beneficial for well-being ( Richter et al., 2013 ; Probst and Jiang, 2016 ).

Thus, the efficacy of the social support strategy in women reinforces the idea that socialisation, depending on differentiated gender roles, has an effect on the types of strategies implemented when faced with different circumstances. But, education in gender roles, which trains us in different WOC with situations, limits the adaptation of the most efficient strategies to each event. For example, if men receive an education that is less focused on emotional strategies, it will be more difficult for them to find the necessary resources to achieve successful coping when faced with stressors such as job insecurity.

In short, we have found that job insecurity is a phenomenon that requires more than mere individual coping strategies to buffer its negative impact on mental health. These results perfectly illustrate the important social dimension of job insecurity, similarly to Lim (1996) and Näswall et al. (2005b) who found that the social support obtained both at the workplace and outside the workplace had a positive impact on different areas of workers’ well-being when they developed job insecurity. Authors such as Patterson (2003) and Perreault et al. (2017) obtained similar results regarding the relationship between social support and stress in general. This approach could be associated with the study by Dunahoo et al. (1998) , which suggests paying greater attention to the prosocial-antisocial axis around which the reactions in the event of a stressful circumstance can be categorised.

There is a wide array of research studies related to the multilevel or psychosocial dimensions of job insecurity. This phenomenon is influenced by socioeconomic factors, both in terms of their occurrence and their consequences ( Keim et al., 2014 ; Jiang and Probst, 2017 ; Shoss, 2017 ; Lee et al., 2018 ). Even the implementation of strategies such as the intention to change jobs, studied in the context of job insecurity ( Stiglbauer et al., 2012 ), depends on the employability perceived by the individual ( Balz and Schuller, 2018 ). This factor is related, among other aspects, to social class ( Clarke, 2017 ), family circumstances and gender ( Lebert and Voorpostel, 2016 ). At an organisational level, experiencing a climate of uncertainty in the company induces greater job insecurity among workers, individually ( Sora et al., 2013 ). Therefore, the way to cope with or avoid psychological consequences must be holistic, reaching different levels ( Bliese and Jex, 2002 ; Sora et al., 2011 ).

Finally, having addressed the relevance of the social support-related strategies to mitigate the effects of job insecurity on health, especially on women’s health, we shall now tackle some intervention measures by way of conclusion. Two associated factors, which would hamper the implementation of this strategy, have been identified. The first is the increase in temporary contracts and more unstable working conditions ( Crespo et al., 2009 ; Burchell et al., 2014 ; Nielsen et al., 2015 ). This fact makes it difficult to create those support networks at the workplace. On the other hand, in the economic and cultural context of liberal capitalism that fosters individualism, the individual often views him or herself as responsible or guilty of his or her labour situation ( Marzano, 2011 ; Agulló-Tomás et al., 2018 ). This increases the use of strategies focused on individual action, or self-criticism as an emotional response. However, our results, in the line of previous studies by Richter et al. (2013) or Gattino et al. (2015) , show that these strategies are not very efficient to cope with job insecurity, and that they even deteriorate health further.

Limitations and Future Research

Some limitations must be considered when interpreting the results of this study. It is a research study with a cross-sectional design, but it would be advisable to analyze these relationships between coping strategies, job insecurity and mental health through longitudinal design studies that allow taking time factors into account, making it easier to obtain causal conclusions. This kind of designs are less common in studies on job insecurity and they are recommended to go deeper into the analysis of this variable ( Richter et al., 2013 ; Cheng et al., 2014 ), as well as the coping strategies and their effects ( Mantler et al., 2005 ). Moreover, this research study has been performed on a general sample of workers, and in future studies, it would be advisable to control variables such as age, working conditions, type of professional sector, salary, etc., as well as to analyse different worker profiles, or compare different cultural and socioeconomic frameworks. It should also be noted that there is a large presence of partial contracts in the sample, especially in women. It would be necessary to address this aspect in more depth in the future, due to its implications of mental health. This must be done whilst maintaining the gender approach, as some differences have been identified in terms of the influence of the socialisation of men and women on the development and efficacy of the coping strategies. On the other hand, it would be interesting to use tools to measure coping strategies that focus especially on the specific phenomenon of job insecurity. It is proposed to develop scales that include specific actions or strategies to tackle apotential job loss.

Finally, although no evidence has been found to the extent that belonging to a trade union can mediate between job insecurity and psychological well-being ( Hellgren et al., 2000 ), we propose stimulating this kind of studies in the current framework. In recent years, social movements have been forming groups of people with common labour problems that have turned a stressful personal and family circumstance into collective struggles. These are action-focused resources, but which may represent a relevant source of social support in its different forms (informational, affective, instrumental), and thus, it would be very interesting to replicate this research in male and female workers linked to this kind of groups. In this regard, Lee et al. (2018) highlight the need for research that analyses how community intervention can reduce job insecurity or its effects on people.

Practical Implications

The present study has relevant practical implications when carrying out interventions on the effects of job insecurity that would be useful for work in the field of job counselling, human resource departments, enterprises in general, as well as other social players engaged in community intervention. The main conclusion reached refers to the fact that workers cannot be deemed responsible for not implementing some specific actions when faced with a potential job loss. Intervention should come at different levels, from the individual level to the organisational and social levels, as it has been observed that social support plays a paramount role. Thus, it is important to implement preventive measures to help people have a support network, and also to teach them how to use it. In companies, it is recommended to implement actions that promote a good working climate that would prevent other kinds of disorders related to the workplace ( Boada-Grau et al., 2009 ), as well as to facilitate personal contact among workers. Outside the company, community intervention is a key element to foster the growth of contact networks among individuals in the social sphere. In terms of individual practical implications, the fact that having a social support network is no longer sufficient is gaining relevance; people must also use them. This is the reason why clinical interventions when a person feels unwell or discomfort due to job insecurity should be geared toward the patient learning how to look to his or her environment to obtain emotional, informational, instrumental and affective resources that decrease the perceived stress. Further, we have found that disengagement strategies (social withdrawal, self-criticism, wishful thinking or problem avoidance) are the ones more strongly linked to mental health, and thus, interventions should be aimed, also, at preventing the use of this kind of coping.

The results shown in this article have broadened the knowledge on the way workers can cope with perceived job insecurity to reduce its negative effects on mental health. It has been found that there are coping strategies that may play a mediating role, with some gender differences. Mainly, disengagement strategies aggravate the psychological consequences of job insecurity, such as, wishful thinking, self-criticism, and problem avoidance in women, and social withdrawal in men. The only strategy that plays a buffering role between insecurity and mental health is social support, and it is only effective in women. We conclude, therefore, by stating that using personal social networks to cope with job insecurity is the best strategy to avoid developing psychological disorders resulting from this situation, especially depressive disorders. We thus propose the need to work on preventing and treating job insecurity from a multilevel or holistic approach, including the individual sphere, but aimed at reinforcing social bonds. This study confirms the already widespread idea that gender roles limit our psychological resources, in this case referring to the way in which we cope with a specific source of stress such as job insecurity. Hence, we underscore the need to promote and develop new and more egalitarian forms of education and socialisation.

Ethics Statement

This study was carried out in accordance with the requirements and protocols of the Ethics Committee of Oviedo University. The protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of Oviedo University. All subjects gave written informed consent in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

Author Contributions

SM-E, JL, and EA-T conceived and designed the work. SM-E, HL, and RS-V collected the data. SM-E, JL, EA-T, JR-S, and RS-V analysed and interpreted the data. SM-E and JL drafted the article. EA-T and JR-S critically revised the article and approved the published version.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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Keywords : job insecurity, mental health, coping strategies, moderating role, gender perspective, gender

Citation: Menéndez-Espina S, Llosa JA, Agulló-Tomás E, Rodríguez-Suárez J, Sáiz-Villar R and Lahseras-Díez HF (2019) Job Insecurity and Mental Health: The Moderating Role of Coping Strategies From a Gender Perspective. Front. Psychol. 10:286. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00286

Received: 17 August 2018; Accepted: 29 January 2019; Published: 18 February 2019.

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Copyright © 2019 Menéndez-Espina, Llosa, Agulló-Tomás, Rodríguez-Suárez, Sáiz-Villar and Lahseras-Díez. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Esteban Agulló-Tomás, [email protected]

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Job Insecurity: Challenge or Hindrance Stressor? Review of the Evidence and Empirical Test on Entrepreneurs

• First Online: 26 October 2021

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• Hans De Witte 2 , 3 &
• Anahí Van Hootegem 2  

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This chapter focuses on job insecurity: the subjectively perceived threat of job loss and the worries related to that threat. Job insecurity is related to contractual flexibility, as it is the subjective counterpart of the “objective” employment contract. The chapter summarizes the literature on the association of (perceived) job insecurity with various aspects of ill-being versus well-being, motivation and performance, in an attempt to clarify whether insecurity acts as a challenge or a hindrance stressor. Hindrance stressors deplete energy and exhaust workers. Challenge stressors are more ambivalent in nature: they are associated with exhaustion but at the same time also offer opportunities for motivation and growth. The literature overview is complemented with the results of an additional empirical test among entrepreneurs. The review leads to an univocal conclusion: job insecurity does not function as a challenge stressor, but clearly acts as a hindrance stressor. Job insecurity is first of all associated with various aspects of ill-being. Job insecurity is however also associated with a decrease in well-being, motivation, and work engagement, suggesting that it thwarts, rather than fuels, energy and growth. Additionally, job insecurity is associated with lower levels of productive behaviors and higher levels of counterproductive behaviors. The results of the empirical tests among entrepreneurs further support these findings. The results reported in this chapter could help ending the debate in which scholars sometimes suggest that job insecurity challenges and motivates workers to perform more or better, as the results reported clearly contradict this view.

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De Witte, H., Van Hootegem, A. (2021). Job Insecurity: Challenge or Hindrance Stressor? Review of the Evidence and Empirical Test on Entrepreneurs. In: Korunka, C. (eds) Flexible Working Practices and Approaches. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74128-0_11

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• American Economic Journal: Microeconomics

Job Insecurity

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Impact of job insecurity on job performance introduction

Career Development International

ISSN : 1362-0436

Article publication date: 20 March 2020

Issue publication date: 20 March 2020

De Cuyper, N. , Schreurs, B. , De Witte, H. and Selenko, E. (2020), "Impact of job insecurity on job performance introduction", Career Development International , Vol. 25 No. 3, pp. 221-228. https://doi.org/10.1108/CDI-06-2020-332

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Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

Introduction

Organizations today are in a constant state of flux. Change is important for any organization. Without change, organizations may lose their competitive edge and fail to meet performance benchmarks. At the employee level, however, changes oftentimes evoke feelings of job insecurity. Felt job insecurity concerns “the subjectively experienced anticipation of a fundamental and involuntary event related to job loss” ( Sverke et al. , 2002 , p. 243). The downsides associated with felt job insecurity have been documented widely ( De Witte et al. , 2015, 2016 ; Jiang and Lavaysse, 2018 ; Lee et al. , 2018 ; Shoss, 2017 ). Felt job insecurity deteriorates job attitudes, such as job satisfaction and commitment, and impedes employee well-being and health.

The evidence for job performance is weaker yet pointing in the same direction. In particular, recent meta-analyses show weak to moderate negative relationships between felt job insecurity and different indicators of job performance ( Jiang and Lavaysse, 2018 ; Sverke et al. , 2019 ). Similarly, longitudinal evidence with varying time lags and measures shows that felt job insecurity impairs performance, including for example both self-rated ( Fischmann et al. , 2018 ; Huang et al. , 2012 ; Schreurs et al. , 2012 ) and other-rated task performance and creativity ( Probst et al. , 2007 ).

Despite accumulating evidence, the idea that felt job insecurity may boost performance is quite persistent. This idea is perhaps more comforting for employers in times of ongoing change. As organizational productivity is the aggregate of individual performance, a negative relationship may undermine any gain from organization change, while a positive relationship could facilitate change. Also from the workers’ side, the belief that hard work would protect from being dismissed might represent a belief in a just world – where people get what they deserve. The strength of opinion is however not matched with similarly strong evidence. Results from the first meta-analysis on this topic ( Sverke et al. , 2002 ) show a non-significant relationship between felt job insecurity and job performance: This meta-analysis has been quite impactful in terms of number of citations and may have fed the idea that felt job insecurity is not causing poorer job performance. However, this meta-analysis includes relatively few studies. In a more recent meta-analysis with more studies, Sverke et al . (2019) establish a negative relationship between felt job insecurity and job performance, but this study still has not the same impact as the 2002 study. Similarly, studies that established a positive relationship are few ( Probst, 2002 ; Probst et al. , 2007 ) but have attracted comparatively much attention. A further illustration comes from the many references to the study by Staufenbiel and König (2010) . This study is often used to support the idea of a positive relationship between felt job insecurity and job performance, while results in fact show a dominant negative path and a weaker positive path.

Against this background, this special issue has three interrelated aims. First, our understanding of whether felt job insecurity impairs job performance, for whom and why is still far from complete. Accordingly, the first aim is to strengthen and deepen the current base of evidence. Second, studies showing a positive relationship between felt job insecurity and job performance are rare but have much appeal. Rather than regarding those studies only as interesting exceptions, they could serve as a starting point to think about potential boundary conditions. Examples can be found in the meta-analysis by Sverke et al. (2019) and in the studies by Fischmann et al. (2018) and Wang et al. (2015) which all highlight the critical role of moderators. Accordingly, the second aim is to identify and probe potential moderators in the relationship between felt job insecurity and job performance. Third, while building (Aim 1) and extending (Aim 2) the existing evidence base is a critical endeavor, it is equally important to define new routes that are innovative in the field. Accordingly, our third aim is to advance ideas that could inspire research lines.

Achieving those aims could help to involve employers as critical stakeholders: successful organizational change is conditional upon job performance from employees, and felt job insecurity could be a cause for concern. Identifying when job insecurity affects performance and when it does not may provide hints as to what employers can do to support their employees. In the following, we will come back to these aims and implications in connection to the papers in this special issue.

This special issue

Aim 1: strengthening and deepening existing evidence.

A common feature in the five empirical papers in this special issue is that they all hypothesize and, with very few exceptions, demonstrate that felt job insecurity has a negative impact on job performance. This negative relationship appears quite robust: it is found across measures of job insecurity and across indicators and sources of job performance. Job insecurity measures come from Hellgren et al. (1999) in three papers in this special issue, from Probst (2003) in one paper, and are adapted from Hartley et al. ; and van Vuuren (1990) in one other paper. Indicators of job performance concern in-role performance in three papers and creativity, adaptive and contextual performance in one paper each. Finally, performance-ratings come from either the employee or the supervisor (for an exception, see Probst, Chizh, Hu, Jiang and Austin, this special issue, in which other-ratings are used). Despite this evidence, three issues remain.

First, the evidence in most papers in this special issue, like in felt job insecurity research in general, is based on small-scale convenience sampling or organization-based samples, all fairly homogeneous. This limits the generalizability of the findings, as it is unknown whether similar relationships would be found in other organizations, employment groups or industry sectors. Furthermore, it is difficult to gauge the size of the effects on a population level. Effects found in small, specific samples might be overshadowed by other factors that were not included and become non-significant on a population level.

In response, the first paper of this special issue by Van Vuuren, De Jong and Smolders (Paper 1) entitled “The association between subjective job insecurity and job performance across different employment groups” presents evidence from a representative sample of the Dutch working population, accounting for the large heterogeneity in the labor market in terms of contract types. Felt job insecurity in this study associates negatively with performance. Although small of size, it is in line with earlier meta-analytical results ( Sverke et al. , 2002, 2019 ). Furthermore, finding a relationship between job insecurity and performance at all on a population level is impressive. On this scale, even small effects will make a noticeable difference, for some people more so than others. Indeed, this was the case here: the negative relationship between felt job insecurity and job performance is stronger among the self-employed than among permanent and fixed term contract workers, and the relationship is virtually non-significant among temporary agency and on-call workers. Though tentative, this could be interpreted as meaning that felt job insecurity is more problematic among those who have more to lose, their business among the self-employed, job continuity among permanent workers or the prospect of job continuity among fixed term contract workers. Temporary and on-call workers might recognize insecurity as an expected component of their job situation (see De Cuyper and De Witte, 2008 for a similar reasoning). The findings of Van Vuuren et al . become even more relevant when we acknowledge that individual self-reported performance relates to objectively measured job performance ( Edgar et al. , 2015 ) which is connected to team and eventually organizational performance. Even if only a small bit of organizational performance can be explained by job insecurity, the fact that this effect is present on a national level, will come with noticeable economic consequences for some organizations. This might interest policy makers as it highlights the potential devastating economic effect that an increase in perceived job insecurity on a population level (and particularly among the self-employed) can have.

Second, most job insecurity studies come from within Europe or the USA, and the collection of papers in this special issue follows this trend, with contributions from The Netherlands and the USA. This obviously leads to the question regarding generalization across cultures. The study by Probst, Chizh, Hu, Jiang and Austin (Paper 2) entitled “Explaining the relationship between job insecurity and creativity: a two-country test of cognitive and affective mediators” shows that the negative relationship between felt job insecurity and job performance is consistent across cultural settings, USA and China in particular. That is, Chinese and American workers showed similar performance decrements in response to felt job insecurity. Consistent with previous studies (e.g. Lee et al. , 2008 ), this finding suggests that felt job insecurity is a pervasive stressor and exerts negative effects, irrespective of country or culture. Nevertheless, there could be variations in the strength of relationships: this has been demonstrated, though not yet extensively, in the wider area of occupational health and well-being (e.g. Debus et al. , 2012 ; Probst and Lawler, 2006 ) and definitely needs follow-up for performance outcomes.

Third, most papers in this special issue do not explain why felt job insecurity impairs job performance. Stretching this to the broader research area, research is lagging behind in testing mechanisms underlying the relationship between felt job insecurity and job performance or, for that matter, other outcomes ( De Witte, 2016 ). The studies that do, in this special issue or elsewhere, often rely on one of four frameworks: appraisal theory (see e.g. Huang et al. , 2012 ), conservation of resources theory (see e.g. Schreurs et al. , 2012 ), self-determination theory (see e.g. Stynen et al. , 2015 ; Van den Broeck et al. , 2014 ), and social exchange theory ( De Cuyper and De Witte, 2006 ; Lam et al. , 2015 ). A relatively new framework in the area of job insecurity research concerns threat rigidity theory (see e.g. Niesen et al. , 2014 ; Van Hootegem et al. , 2019 ). Probst et al. use threat rigidity theory to introduce cognitive failure as a potential mediator, and successfully so, next to the more common mediator positive affect. Whereas prior research has mostly focused on its role as motivational lever, this study shows that felt job insecurity can significantly affect employees’ ability to perform at work by influencing their cognitive capacities. The cognitive explanation brings a new impulse to our understanding of why felt job insecurity impedes job performance and provides a pathway for a more extensive understanding of the role of felt job insecurity in affecting people’s behavior at work.

Aim 2: boundary conditions

Two studies in this special issue seek to reconcile the dominant view that the felt job insecurity – job performance relationship is negative and the more provocative view that it is positive. This highlights the dilemma faced by job insecure employees ( Shoss, 2017 ). On the one hand, job insecure employees may want to withdraw from their job. On the other hand, they may think that working hard is a route to job continuity and use this knowledge strategically. The reaction could be conditional upon moderators, be they bound to the situation or the person.

Lavigne, Whitaker, Jundtt and Shoss (Paper 3) in her study entitled “When do job insecure employees adapt to change?” along these lines argues and then demonstrates that job insecure employees invest resources strategically: they invest resources in those behaviors that are rewarded or valued by the organization (for a similar argument). She illustrates her point by showing that the relationship between felt job insecurity and adaptive performance is negative when there are few changes to the core tasks but not significant when there are many changes: employees take changes to core tasks as a signal that the organization values adaptive performance and act accordingly. However, even under such signals, the relationship between felt job insecurity and adaptive performance is not positive: signals from the organizations can buffer yet not boost performance.

Koen, Low and Van Vianen (Paper 4) in their manuscript entitled “Job preservation efforts: when does job insecurity prompt performance?” hypothesize that felt job insecurity relates negatively to performance. Yet, the relationship can be positive under specific conditions, namely when employees perceive performance as instrumental toward restoring security. Such is supposed to be the case among employees who are not typically intrinsically motivated and in situations of high distributive justice, where people believe they will be justly rewarded for their efforts. Results aligns with the idea that felt job insecurity relates negatively to job performance and that intrinsic motivation may play a role. An intriguing observation and contrasting the authors’ hypothesis is that felt job insecurity relates positively to job performance among those who perceive low (vs high) distributive justice. Injustice has been identified as a motivator of action before, especially in situations of harm (as during job insecurity) ( Foster and Rusbult, 1999 ). Both job insecurity and distributive injustice have been found to be identity-undermining experiences. Working to a high standard in these situations might hence be read as an act of defiance, to reaffirm ones’ own sense of being a valuable worker, as a reaction to and despite of not getting any reward or recognition for it from the organization. More research is needed to replicate these findings, and the effect of injustice and its potentially motivating role in times of job insecurity need yet to be fully understood.

Aim 3: new routes

Another two studies in this special issue bring in elements from the more provocative view that job insecurity prompts performance, yet with an interesting twist. This leads to challenging new routes.

First, a common idea in the provocative view is that felt job insecurity triggers impression management behavior, so that employees appear (but not necessarily are) hard-working citizens: impression management following feelings of job insecurity is a strategic investment. Probst, Jiang and Lopez-Bohle (Paper 5) in their study “Job insecurity and impression management: which is the horse and which is the cart when it comes to job performance?” reverse causality: they argue that employees can also strategically invest resources to reduce the very feeling of job insecurity. In particular, they find that supervisor-focused impression management fosters job security, and this relates positively to job performance. What this study shows is that employees proactively and strategically invest to prevent potential job loss and associated feelings of insecurity: proactivity has not typically been at the center of job insecurity research.

Second, the divide between the more traditional vs provocative view is to a large extent based on how felt job insecurity is appraised: as hindrance or challenge. Hindrance stressors are undesirable work-related demands that interfere with work achievements, hence impaired performance following felt job insecurity. Challenge stressors are work-related demands that are potentially stressful but can be overcome and have a potential gain for the individual ( Cavanaugh et al. , 2000 ), hence increased performance following felt job insecurity. Debus, Unger and König (Paper 6) in their conceptual paper “Job insecurity duration and performance” bridge the divide by advancing a person-centered approach that allows for distinct employee profiles. Most importantly they argue that appraisals can change over time, which can lead to a set of dynamic trajectories in three strands. One strand follows hindrance appraisals. The common feature is that felt job insecurity impairs performance, but the shape of the trajectory could be quite different: for example, felt job insecurity may hit particularly hard in early stages or instead in later stages, or there could be a continuous impact. A second strand concerns challenge appraisals, when felt job insecurity motivates employees to perform. Such motivation may be present from the onset or instead delayed and it may be continuous or not. A third group concerns stability, when felt job insecurity does not seem to affect performance, for example because felt job insecurity is appraised as irrelevant or when hindrance and threat appraisals are equally strong. This pattern is often overlooked in the current debate. It is important though, as it highlights that there are potentially conflicting dynamics ( Staufenbiel and König, 2010 ). The person-centered approach in combination with time is a promising route for future research and needs empirical follow-up. To adequately test the authors’ propositions, a context is required that provides a clear and meaningful onset point or catalyst to initiate appraisals of felt job insecurity. One such onset point is the time of organizational entry; another is the announcement of an organizational restructuring. Data collection will be a challenge, either way.

Implications for employers

This set of papers hold interesting implications related to the apparent paradox that change is needed, yet that change brings feelings of job insecurity which undermines successful change. This is a complementary to and perhaps a more contemporary interpretation of the vicious cycle described in the seminal paper by Greenhalgh and Rosenblatt (1984) (see also Greenhalgh and Sutton, 1991): felt job insecurity may undermine organizational effectiveness, which then promotes feelings of job insecurity. The papers by Van Vuuren et al. (Paper 1) and Probst, Chisz et al. (Paper 2) shows that those employers’ concerns should not be taken lightly: felt job insecurity associates negatively with job performance, and more strongly so among employees who are at the core of the organization (Paper 1) and across cultures (Paper 2). In addition, felt job insecurity impairs creativity, while change processes often thrive on creative solutions (Paper 2).

The papers in the special issue also hint at dos and don’ts for employers. On the “do”-side, Lavigne (Paper 3) brings situational cues to the fore as a way to help understand employees which behaviors are needed and valued. Employers could deliberately use these cues to shape employees’ behaviors and to provide employees a sense of control over the situation. Such cues could relate to actual changes in core tasks, as in Lavigne’s paper or clear and transparent communication ( Smet et al. , 2016 ). Probst et al. (Paper 5) open a view on primary prevention, complementary to the fairly large stream of research that has focused upon potential ways to cope with felt job insecurity in an attempt to reduce the harmful impact of felt job insecurity. This stream is concerned with employees’ reactions vis-à-vis felt job insecurity. Probst et al. show that employees are to some extent agents of their own career and this knowledge can be used as a tool for primary prevention.

On the “don’t” side, the pattern of results in Koen et al. ’s paper shows that performance increases following insecurity are highly self-serving. In addition, the conceptualization by Debus et al. (Paper 6) suggests that the impact on performance can be dynamic and, depending on employee profiles, not readily visible. The implication is that changes in performance or lack of those in situations of high insecurity may not be the best criterion for decisions in HR-related matters. A better criterion could be to look at past performance over a longer period of time.

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Further reading

Greenhagh , L. and Sutton , R. ( 1991 ), “ Organizational effectiveness and job insecurity ”, in Hartley , J. , Jacobson , D. , Klandermans , B. and van Vuuren , T. (Eds), Job Insecurity. Coping with Jobs at Risk , Sage , London , pp. 151 - 171 .

Hartley , J. , Jacobson , D. , Klandermans , B. and van Vuuren , T. ( 1991 ), Job Insecurity: Coping with Jobs at Risk , Sage , London .

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The secret to achieving job security — and why it matters

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What is job security and why is it important?

Is job security the same as job stability.

3 ways managers can increase job security for their employees

3 ways employees can impact their own job security

Job security and boundaries

How to handle living without job security

A job is more than just a job. 

For some people, work offers a sense of purpose and meaning. We can often tie our identities, our passions, and who we are as people to our work. Beyond a sense of identity, job security matters for many reasons.  

For most (if not, all) people, it’s how we provide for ourselves and our families. The paycheck allows us to put food on the table. The monthly deduction from our bank account for rent or mortgage. The ability to cover unforeseen healthcare bills. The funds that allow us to send our kids to tutoring, ballet practice, or piano lessons. 

Economic mobility is unlocked when opportunities are available to talented people. When job security is threatened, you’re immediately unstabilized. This can lead to feelings of stress, depression , and a lack of mental fitness .

You can feel like you’re living on a bedrock of anxiety , plates shifting underneath you. Your free time might be swallowed with late-night job searching and resume updates, just in case you need to find something else. You might show up every day with extreme stress and pressure to perform at your best. 

Early in my career, I worked as a teacher in a public school system that went through mass layoffs. More than 2,000 teachers were laid off in this particular district, yet somehow I was spared. 

Part of me was relieved. But the other part of me felt a sense of survivor’s guilt. I questioned whether or not I deserved to have my job. I didn’t have a family, I didn’t have kids, and I didn’t have anyone to provide for other than just me. Why was I spared? 

Our global economy fluctuates. It’s an up-and-down wave weathering politics, recessions, global pandemics , and other crises. It reacts as it should: it tries to protect and salvage whatever might be left to save. 

While the economy is strong today, unfortunately, history tells us that the economy is never consistently stable. For us humans, it can cause significant stress around job security and stability. 

In a January 2022 survey, 27% of Americans report worrying about job security . That’s still a significant number in an economy that’s just reached a record low unemployment rate amid a global pandemic. Even though the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports strong numbers, things can (and do) change. And while the unemployment rate is low, frictional unemployment is rising. 

So, how do you find job security? What’s the difference between job security and job stability? And if you’re an employer, what are ways you can increase job security for your employees? 

Feeling like you could lose your job creates a real fear around job insecurity. So, what does it mean to have job security? 

What is job security?

Job security is a sense of knowing that your job is safe from being cut. It’s an assurance that you will be able to work in your current employment for the foreseeable future.

Job security comes with a feeling of protection against things like layoffs, economic downfalls, and other factors that could impact employment . Here are five reasons why job security is so important for both employees and employers. 

Makes employees feel valued 

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that employees feel valued when they feel secure in their jobs. If an employer can create a sense of security, employees feel recognized as humans first, employees second. 

Lessened employee stress and anxiety 

Your employees’ well-being is important. We know employee well-being — specifically stress, anxiety, and burnout — is tied to performance. 

When there’s a looming fear of job insecurity, your employees’ well-being is likely to take a hit. J ob insecurity can significantly impact your employees’ mental well-being and physical health . Job insecurity can lead to prolonged anxiety, anger , and burnout. Those impacts can show up in both physical and mental health manifestations. This includes sleep problems , substance misuse, weight gain, depression, and more. 

Increases employee engagement (and less turnover) 

A recent study looked at job insecurity and employee engagement. The study found that job insecurity negatively impacts employee engagement. Gallup found some interesting data that backs up this stat. Employees who are insecure about their job are 37% more likely to be disengaged in the workplace . 

But when employees feel secure, safe, and valued, employee engagement increases. An engaged workforce has a positive ripple effect. This includes better employee retention , less turnover , and even better overall business performance. And job security plays a key role in how connected employees feel to their organization. 

Improves employees’ productivity 

The positive ripple effect of job security results in increased employee productivity. Increased employee engagement — along with an exceptional employee experience — leads to more productive employees. 

Short answer: not exactly. But here’s why. 

Job security vs. job stability 

While similar, job security and job stability aren’t the same things. Here’s why. 

Job security. Job security essentially means employees feel secure and are unlikely to be fired, laid off, or dismissed. Job security eliminates that risk and fear that a job would simply cease to exist or disappear. 

It’s focused on the here and now but it doesn’t necessarily nod to any future growth and development. It’s a reassurance that a job is there waiting for you every morning without the threat of disappearing.

Job stability. Job stability is an evolving beast. Traditionally, especially with earlier generations like baby boomers , stability and consistency was a must-have. Job stability is the duration for which an employee stays with their current job without disruption. It’s essential for employers to foster a sense of job stability. But these last few years have changed the way the world approaches what we know to be job stability. We have a gig economy . We have workers who want to learn, grow, and be mobile more than ever before. We have employees who aren’t sticking in their same jobs for extended periods of time. None of this is a bad thing. It can mean people are finding purpose, clarity, and passion in their work. It can also mean people are re-examining what they want to do with their lives and their careers. 

And we’re seeing this disruption in what we’ve known to be “stability” in the numbers. Record numbers of employees are leaving their jobs. And the pandemic has challenged more employees than ever to find meaning and purpose in their work. 

Perhaps this means that as a global workforce, we’re becoming more and more comfortable with what we may call “instability.” Because this instability and change often lead to growth and development. 

But it’s important to differentiate stability from security. Job security is imperative for any organization and almost a non-negotiable for any business. On the other hand, job stability is going through its own evolution. When people change the way they work, it’s disruptive. But is disruption always a bad thing? 

8 of the most secure careers right now 

When it comes to job security, there are some professions that are more bulletproof to external factors than others. We looked to US News for its analysis and rankings for careers with the best job security . 

• Physician’s assistant 
• Software developer 
• Nurse practitioner 
• Physician 
• Speech-language pathologist 
• Veterinarian 
• IT manager 
• Physical therapy assistant 

When is it a good time to accept a less stable job? 

This is a tough question. It’s not necessarily one that anyone else can answer for you. Your personal situation is just that: highly personal. 

You might be in a financial position where you can take a risk. You might feel like you have some wiggle room to make a leap. You might have to accept that you’ll feel more insecure in your role. But maybe that’s OK.  

Or you might be in a position where your ends meet but you need more economic freedom. Perhaps another higher-paying position presents itself. But this new role isn’t secure. What do you do? 

Because every situation is personal, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. But there is a way to get support. 

Consider working with a coach to help evaluate job opportunities. A coach is someone who can listen, assess, and ask questions about your personal situation. They’ll be able to help serve as your career and personal guide. With coaching, you can help come to the right decision that works for you. 

3 ways managers can increase employee job security

As a manager, you have an incredible influence on your employees’ experience. Managers can be the “make it or break it” for employees. So, as a manager, how can you help your employees feel secure in their jobs? 

1. Encourage learning and development opportunities 

Skills are the new currency. As a manager, encourage your employees to stay on their edge with upskilling . 

By empowering your employees ’ learning journeys, you’re helping to grow their skill set. Should anything like layoffs happen, you’ve hopefully helped to build skills . In doing so, they may be better prepared to weather a tough job market. 

2. Be a future-minded leader 

One of the key tenants of future-mindedness is preparing for the road ahead. Future-minded leadership is about being prepared for roadblocks and setbacks that may occur along the way. A combination of optimism and pragmatism can help you build the skills necessary. 

And in doing so, you’ll see results in your team: increased innovation, performance, resiliency , and agility. Adopting a future-minded mindset is critical to increasing job security. If you can think ahead far enough and be prepared for the unexpected, you might be better positioned to create career paths for your team. 

3. Encourage career mobility 

Long are the days where employees stay in a position for extended periods of time. We know internal and career mobility is critical for employee growth. 

As a manager, encourage career mobility. It might mean you have employees who don’t stay on your specific team for as long as is ideal. But your employees will learn new skill sets and grow in their careers. By doing so, you’re helping to increase their job security — and your businesses’ bottom line will benefit. 

Job security can feel entirely out of your control. But in reality, as an employee, you are in the driver seat of your career. And there are things that you do have control over to help impact your own job security. 

1. Seek out learning opportunities 

Learning new skills can do no harm to your career. In fact, quite the opposite. Consider ways you can create learning pathways in your current role. 

For example, you might volunteer for projects out of your comfort zone . Or you might attend a training or class to build a new skill. Whatever the learning opportunity looks like, keep an open mind. You never know how learning opportunities might benefit your career journey. 

2. Build and nurture relationships 

Social capital and networks play a larger role than you may think in your career. Try expanding your network and building new relationships. 

New connections can open up the door for new opportunities. You might also consider ways you can either work with a mentor or serve as a mentor for someone else. 

3. Work with a coach 

If you’re fearful about job security, it can help to have an outside perspective. A personal guide in the form of a coach can help you build your career roadmap . If you’re worried about what to do next with your career, lean on your coach. If you’re not sure how your skill set transfers, your coach can help you figure out where to go next. 

Job security and employee boundaries

We’ve long been conditioned to think that our worth and value are tied to our outer work. How many hours we’re putting into the day. How many meetings we attend. How many projects we manage to get done on a quarterly basis. 

You might’ve noticed that “work harder” isn’t one of the ways to improve your job security. There’s a fine line between hard work and burnout — and we know employees everywhere are struggling to draw boundaries. With 55% of employees languishing and burnout rates on the rise, it’s simply just not healthy to work yourself to the bone. 

I’ve personally experienced this out of fear of job security. I thought that if I put in enough hours, showed up to work at 6 a.m., churned on projects and lesson plans and everything I needed to “be successful,” I’d be set. 

But what I found was rock bottom. My mental health and well-being suffered dramatically. And as one would predict, I burned out fast. 

Whether you’re an employee or an employer, it’s critical to be cognizant of boundaries . As an employee, the strength of your mental fitness is a key predictor of how you show up in the workplace.

With strong mental fitness, you’re more resilient, creative, innovative, and productive. But if you neglect boundaries and neglect your mental health, you’ll suffer in your work, too. 

As an employer, an overwhelming workload isn’t going to empower a thriving workforce. Employees need space for Inner Work®. They need harmony between work and life. They need to feel valued as whole people and humans first. Be cognizant of the boundary lines and clear in your expectations. 

How to handle a living without job security

Living with job insecurity is taxing mentally, emotionally, physically, and financially. Forbes has cited the impact of job security on mental health . If you’re living with job insecurity, consider these tips to help cope. 

Mental well-being

• Maintain work-life balance. Don’t sacrifice too much for the sake of your work. It might feel like you have to work 24/7 to keep the lights on. But the reality is, you’ll likely burn out. Try to keep work-life balance a priority as much as possible. 
• Practice Inner Work®. Inner Work® is for everyone. It can be as simple as taking a 10-minute walk every morning. Or doing a 30-second meditation before a big meeting. Make the space for Inner Work® in your mental fitness plan. By doing so, you’ll reap the well-being benefits and be better prepared to weather the rough patches. 
• Create a positive work environment. If you’re a hybrid worker or work remotely , think of ways you can make your work environment more positive. Even something as simple as a plant or a candle can help brighten your space — and it makes a difference in your mental health. No matter what your work environment looks like physically, consider ways you can create social connections at work. This may look like a coffee with someone new every week. Or maybe you join an employee resource group (ERG) or club. Seek out ways to bring more positivity into your workplace. 

Financial well-being 

• Control your expenses. If you’re living with job insecurity, finances can be a huge stressor. You might need to re-examine your budget and evaluate priorities. Consider ways you can cut down your expenses without too much impact on your overall well-being. 
• Try to build a financial wellness plan. Financial wellness is like any other facet of well-being. It requires a holistic view into what makes you financially well: debt, retirement, savings, budgets, and more. Even if you’re in a place where you might not think financial wellness is possible, you can still create a plan that’s catered to your needs. 
• Explore unemployment benefits. You might be experiencing job loss and searching for a new job. If that's the case, there are resources that could potentially help in the short term. Do your research on unemployment benefits to help get you through this tough time.

Build your own path to job security 

You might've just started a new job or are in the job search . You might be experiencing job loss and are wondering where your career should go next. 

With economic expansion often comes job security and stability. But it's never a bad idea to adopt a future-minded mindset. 

No matter where you are in your career journey, a coach can help. Try personalized coaching with BetterUp. With one-on-one virtual coaching , you can reach your fullest potential .

Lead with confidence and authenticity

Develop your leadership and strategic management skills with the help of an expert Coach.

Madeline Miles

Madeline is a writer, communicator, and storyteller who is passionate about using words to help drive positive change. She holds a bachelor's in English Creative Writing and Communication Studies and lives in Denver, Colorado. In her spare time, she's usually somewhere outside (preferably in the mountains) — and enjoys poetry and fiction.

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Job Insecurity in Nursing: A Bibliometric Analysis

Vicente prado-gascó.

1 Department of Social Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Valencia, 46010 Valencia, Spain; [email protected]

María del Carmen Giménez-Espert

2 Department of Nursing, Faculty of Nursing and Chiropody, University of Valencia, 46010 Valencia, Spain

Hans De Witte

3 Research Group Work, Organizational and Personnel Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium; [email protected]

4 Optentia Research Focus Area, North-West University, 1900 Vanderbijlpark, South Africa

Associated Data

The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to its huge size.

Nurses are a key workforce in the international health system, and as such maintaining optimal working conditions is critical for preserving their well-being and good performance. One of the psychosocial risks that can have a major impact on them is job insecurity. This study aimed to carry out a bibliometric analysis, mapping job insecurity in 128 articles in nursing, and to determine the most important findings in the literature. The search was conducted in the Web of Science Core Collection database using the Science Citation Index (SCI)-Expanded and Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) indexes on 6 March 2020. This field of discipline has recently been established and has experienced significant growth since 2013. The most productive and widely cited authors are Denton and Zeytinoglu. The most productive universities are Toronto University, McMaster University, and Monash University. The most productive countries are the United States, Canada, Australia, Finland, and the United Kingdom. The most widely used measure was Karasek’s Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ). The main findings report negative correlations with job satisfaction, mental well-being, and physical health. Job insecurity is a recent and little-discussed topic, and this paper provides an overview of the field. This will enable policies to reduce psychosocial risks among nurses to be implemented.

1. Introduction

The restructuring of labor markets, economic crisis and globalization, and increasingly excessive labor demands on workers, (flexible contracts, reduced staffing, temporary contracts, increased workload and pressure, and poor work-life balance), can become labor stressors throughout the world in both industrialized and developing countries [ 1 ]. However, work-related stress is determined by multiple causes [ 2 ], including psychosocial risk factors, namely work design characteristics related to the general context of the organization that may impair the psychological and/or physical well-being of employees [ 3 ]. Among the psychosocial risks that seem to negatively affect workers, job insecurity is one which has the most impact on workers and on society in general [ 4 ]. Job insecurity can be defined as a concern about continuing future employment [ 5 ] and is a subjective perception: workers may perceive the same situation in slightly different ways due to their personality or position in the labor market [ 6 ]. Job insecurity is a work stressor, with negative consequences for the individual’s physical, psychological and social health [ 6 , 7 ], and their family [ 8 ]. Theories such as the Karasek’s Job Demand Control Model [ 9 ] contribute to the interpretation of job insecurity. This model explains job stress in terms of the balance between the psychological job demands and the worker’s level of control over them, i.e., job control [ 9 ]. Psychological job demands include role conflict, workload, role ambiguity, job insecurity, and cognitive demands, among others, and are the psychological stressors in the work environment. Job control involves the opportunities to develop one’s own skills, and the autonomy that the work provides, i.e., the resources that the employee has. The development of these skills has a two-fold aspect; on the one hand obtaining and improving sufficient capacity to carry out the tasks, and on the other hand, the possibility of working on (or carrying out) what one knows best (creative and varied work). Autonomy refers to the ability to decide on one’s own tasks and control over breaks and the pace of work [ 9 ]. According to Kasarek, the Job Demand Control Model predicts that low levels of job control, high demands at work and the interaction between them lead to a higher risk of strain, including poorer health and well-being [ 10 ]. Job insecurity is described in terms of lack of control, and implies a lack of resources, especially control [ 10 ]. In this model, the health or well-being of the worker will depend on the balance between the demands of the job and the worker’s own available resources. The authors Johnson and Hall introduced social support as the third dimension of this model, by establishing the job demand-control-social support model, operating in two ways [ 11 ] since workers exposed to high demands, little control and under social support present twice the risk of morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular disease than those with low-demand jobs, much control and strong social support. This dimension of social support refers to all possible levels of on-the-job interaction, both with peers and superiors.

Job insecurity is the most important aspect of work in almost all countries according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the European Social Survey (ESS) and the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) confirm this perception among workers [ 12 ]. In addition, job insecurity not only has adverse effects on people’s health and well-being; it also negatively affects employees’ job satisfaction and commitment, and reduces their work-related health and well-being [ 4 , 13 ]. Job insecurity also reduces the satisfaction of basic human needs [ 9 ], performance at work, and creativity [ 14 , 15 ]. Furthermore, it can affect companies’ performance by reducing worker retention rates, investment in company-specific skills and productivity, and impacts on society at large, social unrest, consumer confidence, and savings behavior. For these reasons, insecurity is one of the three main dimensions in the new OECD framework for the measurement and assessment of the quality of employment [ 16 ].

These aspects are crucial to any type of profession but are paramount for nurses, because nurses are the largest group of health professionals (59%) and play a vital role in global health systems [ 17 ]. The contribution of nurses to global health is undisputed, and investing in improving their quality-of-life benefits society [ 18 ]. Job insecurity among nurses has also been associated with migration to other countries [ 19 ] in search of higher salaries and a better quality of life. It has also been linked to worsening health conditions for nurses and increasing burnout, stress and vulnerability [ 20 , 21 ], lower job satisfaction levels [ 22 ]. The increase in nurses’ workload increases the probability of hospital deaths, and significantly reduces the quality of care [ 23 ] and holistic nursing care [ 24 ]. Job insecurity makes daily work and therapeutic relationships difficult [ 25 ] because professionals are unable to provide quality care. Improved working conditions and professional development affects not only their well-being and quality of life, but also their performance and by extension the functioning of the entire healthcare system [ 26 ]. In addition, an increase in demand for nursing care and the shortage of nurses worldwide is a concern, and adequate prioritization of occupational health and safety is essential as a result, as the World Health Organization (WHO) suggests [ 17 ].

Despite its importance, the decline in the average employment tenure of people aged 30–50 in all countries between 1992 and 2014 is evidence of increasing job insecurity [ 27 ]. The existing literature on this subject is scarce, and a bibliometric study on the subject in nursing appears to be lacking. For this reason, this study analyzes the state of research on job insecurity in nursing using a bibliometric analysis to determine the most important findings in the literature in this field, taking into account the distribution of publications, authorship, co-authorship, impact, the most prolific institutions and countries, citation networks, and the most relevant topics about job insecurity in nursing [ 28 ]. It also aims to establish the most widely used instruments for measuring job insecurity, and the main causes and consequences of job insecurity among nurses [ 29 ]. As a result of the lack of studies of this type, we believe that it could be very useful for health policymakers and health managers in all countries and regions to design programs to retain nurses and ensure the sustainability of health care systems [ 19 ], improve nursing processes and working conditions [ 30 ].

2. Materials and Methods

A descriptive bibliometric analysis of job insecurity in nursing was carried out. Bibliometric studies explore publishing patterns and trends, describe concept development, new emerging areas of research, research gaps, and information about and characteristics of the existing literature and recent advances [ 31 ]. The analysis and bibliometric maps were conducted using Thompson Reuters’ Journal Citation Reports (JCR ® ) [ 32 ], identifying authors, institutions, and countries that have significantly contributed to the development of a specific area of research. The search was conducted in the Web of Science Core Collection database using the SCI-EXPANDED and SSCI indexes on 6 March 2020. The broadest possible topics related to job insecurity in the nursing context were used. The title, abstract, and keywords were used to identify contributions related to this topic from various perspectives. The search strategy included the most significant theoretical concepts: job insecurity (8,272) and nursing (208,161). The search syntaxis used was as follows: TS = (“*EMPLOY* *CERTAIN*” OR “*EMPLOY* *SECURIT*” OR “CAREER *CERTAIN*” OR “CAREER *SECURIT*” OR “CAREERS *CERTAIN*” OR “JOB* *CERTAIN*” OR “JOB* *SECURIT*” OR “LABOR *CERTAIN*” OR “LABOR *SECURIT*” OR “LABOUR *CERTAIN*” OR “LABOUR *SECURIT*” OR “MÉTIER *CERTAIN*” OR “MÉTIER *SECURIT*” OR “OCCUPATION* *CERTAIN*” OR “OCCUPATION* *SECURIT*” OR “PROFESSION* *CERTAIN*” OR “PROFESSION* *SECURIT*” OR “WORK *CERTAIN*” OR “WORK *SECURIT*”) OR TS = (*EMPLOY* OR JOB* OR LABOR* OR LABOUR* OR MÉTIER*)) AND (TS = (*CERTAIN* OR *SECURIT*)) AND (TS = (NURS* OR NURSING)).

The search generated 254 articles that were reviewed for duplicate records, as well as their suitability according to the inclusion criteria considered. The inclusion criteria used to determine the studies in this research were: (1) literature reviews and empirical studies, (2) scientific journal articles, (3) published in any language in all years, (4) in the Web of Science Core Collection SCI EXPANDED and SSCI database (5) examining job insecurity in nurses in any care setting (hospitalization, special services, home care, primary care). In the first step, reading the titles and abstracts of the articles led to the exclusion of 100 articles that did not meet the inclusion criteria. In the second step, a complete reading of the remaining 154 articles led to the exclusion of 26 articles that did not meet the inclusion criteria, leaving a final sample consisting of 128 articles from the WoS from between 1993 and 2020. The quantitative content analysis was implemented using a bibliometric analysis and mapping 128 articles on job insecurity in nursing. We then reviewed the homonymy and synonymy in the authors’ names. We used the author’s affiliation available in the WoS database, and an additional Google search was performed in its absence [ 33 ]. The removal of these ambiguities is necessary since they impair bibliometric analyses such as co-authorial link predictions [ 34 ], collaborative network analysis [ 35 ], and citation network analysis [ 36 ].

The data was analyzed in three phases. A bibliometric analysis and mapping was performed in the first phase. The programs used were Hiscite (version 2012.03.17; HistCite Software LLC, New York, USA), Bibexcel (version 2016.02.20; Olle Persson, Umeå University, Umeå, SWE), Pajeck (version 5.06, 2013.11.12; Batagelj and Mrvar, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia) and Vosviewer (version 1.6.9, Eck and Waltman (2013), Leiden University, the Netherlands). The HistCite program (version 2010.12.6) permits identification of significant articles in WoS topic searches, contributing to the bibliometric analysis. The Global Citation Scores (GCS) were acquired using HistCite. The knowledge maps showing the frequency of occurrence and the relationships between terms were constructed using Bibexcel (version 2011.02.03) in combination with Pajeck (version 3.14) and Vosviewer, providing the display of the different bibliometric maps. The following data were extracted from each article in the second phase: study citation, type of study (empirical study, systematic review, meta-analysis), objective, job insecurity (data prevalence, intervention), main causes and consequences of job insecurity, measuring instruments used, and financing. Finally, in the last phase, the articles in which job insecurity is a central aspect of the study and not just one of various aspects to be evaluated within a psychosocial risk analysis perspective (13 papers) were analyzed in depth ( Figure 1 ). The information from phases two and three were collected in a Microsoft Excel ® database created ad hoc.

Selection of articles and research design description.

3.1. Main Bibliometric Indicators

The first article was published in 1993, and there was significant growth by 2013, when 11 articles were published, followed by 2014 and 2015 when 11 articles were published each year. Finally, 10 articles were published in 2016. There was a decline in 2017 and 2018, with 5 and 7 articles, respectively. Twelve articles were published in 2019, and 2 articles have been published in 2020 (until March 6). The number of articles published per year ranged from 1 to 12 (Mean = 4.92, SD = 3.53); the overall citation scores (GCS) per year ranges from 0 to 181 (Mean = 76.58, SD = 51.51). The year with the highest number of citations was 2013 (GCS = 181), followed by 2005 (GCS = 154) and 2001 (GCS = 146).

The number of articles published per journal ranged from 1 to 10 (Mean = 1.42, SD = 2.21) the Journal of Advanced Nursing (N = 10 articles) and the Journal of Nursing Management (N = 6 articles) were the most productive journals, followed by the International Journal of Nursing Studies and the Journal of Nursing Administration (4 articles each). The remaining journals published 3 or fewer articles. The citations ranged from 0 to 278 (Mean = 22.12, SD = 35.68). The results indicate higher values for the Journal of Advanced Nursing (GCS = 278), followed by Work and Stress (GCS = 111) and the International Journal of Health Service (GCS = 96). The remaining journals received 78 citations or less. The GCS per year (GCS/t) ranged from 0 to 21.44 (Mean = 2; SD = 1.80).

The articles originated in 157 different countries (range 1–21, Mean = 4.03, SD = 4.62). The most productive countries were the United States (N = 21 articles) and Canada (N = 19 articles), followed by Australia, Finland, and the United Kingdom (N = 10 articles each). Next were China (N = 8) and France (N = 7), followed by Germany, Iran, and Spain (N=6 papers each). The remaining countries published five or fewer articles. Likewise, the GCS range from 0 to 439 (Mean = 61.33; SD = 99.91). The highest values were recorded for the United States (GCS = 439), Canada (GCS = 394), United Kingdom (GCS = 282), Australia (GCS = 195), Finland (GCS = 131) and Switzerland (GCS = 116).

The results also indicate that the authors of the selected papers were affiliated with a total of 275 institutions. The number of articles published by the various institutions ranged from 1 to 6 (Mean = 1.19; SD = 0.59). The most prolific institutions were Toronto University (Canada) (N = 6), McMaster University (Canada) (N = 5), and Monash University (Australia) (N = 4), followed by the National Institute for Health and Welfare (Finland), Shouguang People’s Hospital (China), University Jyvaskyla (Finland), and York University (Canada) (N=3 each). The remaining institutions published two or fewer related articles. For the most frequently cited institutions, citations range from 0-150 (Mean = 16.34, SD = 20.13). The four most frequently cited institutions were McMaster University (Canada) (GCS = 150), the University of Surrey (England) (GCS = 95), Stockholm University (Sweden) (GCS = 92) and York University (Canada) (GCS = 81). The remaining institutions had 79 or fewer citations. The 128 selected articles were produced by 487 researchers (Mean = 1.09; SD = 0.38). The authors Denton and Zeytinoglu each published 4 articles. The authors Burke, Elovainio, Heponiemi, Sinervo, Dong, Xu, and Zhang each published 3 articles. The other authors had between 1 and 2 publications. The number of citations of the authors ranged from 0 to 136 (Mean = 15.55; SD = 19.22).

The 10 most cited authors were Denton (GCS = 136; GCS/t = 9.10), Zeytinoglu (GCS = 136; GCS/t = 9.10), Davies, (GCS = 114; GCS/t = 6.55), Lian (GCS = 96; GCS/t = 5.05), Hellgren, Naswall and Sverke (GCS = 92; GCS/t = 5.75 each), Burke (GCS = 81; GCS/t = 6.18), Adams and Tovey (GCS = 73; GCS/t = 3.32 each) ( Table 1 ).

Most cited authors (GCS ≥ 54).

Note: GCS = Global Citation Score in the Clarivate Analytics´ database Web of Science; GCS/T = GCS per year.

The 10 most frequently cited papers (GCS ≥ 44) are shown in Table 2 .

The 10 most cited papers (GCS ≥ 44).

Note: GCS = Global Citation Score of the Clarivate Analytics´ database Web of Science; GCS/t = GCS per year.

3.1.1. Co-Author Network

The network of co-authors identified 28 authors, organized in 9 groups. The groups of four authors (N = 4), three authors (N = 2) and two authors (N = 3) are shown in Figure 2 , in which the thickness of the line indicates the level of collaboration. The authors who collaborate most are Denton and Zeytinoglu, followed by Elovainio, Heponiemi, and Sinervo, Zhang, Xu, and Dong. Finally, Urquhart, Kelsall, and Hoe. The institutions to which they belong in the same order of appearance are McMaster University (Denton, McMaster Centre for Gerontological Studies and Zeytinoglu, DeGroote School of Business); National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland (Elovainio and Heponiemi) and Institute of Work, Health and Organisations, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom (Sinervo); Medical Department, Shouguang People’s Hospital Shouguang, China (Zhang, Xu, and Dong); Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Australia (Urquhart, Kelsall, and Hoe).

Co-author network.

3.1.2. Co-Citations Network

A collaborative citation is used to designate when the work of two or more authors is cited simultaneously in the same article (i.e., they are co-cited). A threshold of 2 or more collaborative citations was established in the co-citation network ( Figure 3 ), 48 authors were identified using this criterion.

Co-citations network (≥2 co-citations of publications).

3.1.3. Thematic Analysis

The keyword analysis provided 3,457 words. After reviewing duplicates and synonyms, eliminating topics that referred to the design, research methodology or other non-relevant aspects and establishing a frequency of appearance of ≥ 4 as criteria for the inclusion of words, 96 topics were obtained. Sixty percent of the most relevant topics [ 37 ] resulted in 58 concepts, which were analyzed further. These topics were grouped into five categories ( Figure 4 ): “Working conditions related to job insecurity”, identified in red; “Job insecurity as a risk factor”, identified in blue; “Aspects related to organizational performance”, identified in purple; “Aspects related to emotional consequences of job insecurity”, identified in yellow; “Aspects related to intervention, training and prevention of job insecurity”, identified in green. As suggested by De Witte, Vander Elst and De Cuyper [ 6 ] these categories can be grouped as (a) antecedents of job insecurity (red and blue), (b) consequences of job insecurity (purple and yellow), and finally (c) interventions to reduce job insecurity (green).

Topics network.

3.2. Main Results

Most of the studies selected were quantitative studies (88%), and to a lesser extent qualitative studies (8%) and literature review studies (4%). Two types of questionnaires measuring job insecurity were used in most studies: specific measures of job insecurity, and broader measures of psychosocial risks in the work environment in general, of which insecurity was only one factor or dimension (multi-dimensional) [ 5 ]. Specific measures include the Job Insecurity Scales of Ashford, Lee and Bobko [ 38 ], Hellgren, Sverke and Isaksson [ 39 ], and Vander Elst et al. [ 40 ] (N = 3 papers, each).

The most widely used multi-dimensional measures were in descending order: the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) [ 41 ] (N = 12 papers); the Effort-Reward Imbalance Questionnaire (ERI) [ 42 ] (N = 4 papers); the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ) [ 43 ] (N = 3 papers) and its short version (N = 1 article).

3.2.1. Causes and Consequences of Job Insecurity

In the studies analyzed, 10% of the papers deal with the causes of job insecurity: temporary employment, job instability, changes in working environments, working conditions (workload, working hours, organization of the work process, labor rights). The remainder (90%) focus on the consequences of job insecurity. Three categories of consequences of job insecurity can be observed: (a) health (musculoskeletal disorders, increased risk of coronary pathologies), well-being (burnout, work engagement, including motivation and empowerment) and work-related attitudes (job satisfaction, commitment) (b) behaviors (influence on the decision to become a nurse, leaving the profession, turnover and emigration), and (c) variables moderating the consequences of insecurity (personality, resilience, work dedication and age, emotional intelligence, positive leadership, and adequate management).

3.2.2. In-Depth Analysis of Papers in Which Job Insecurity is a Central Topic

Next, for a more in-depth study of job insecurity, we selected the papers in which job insecurity is a central topic (13, marked with * in the reference list). Most studies focused on the consequences of job insecurity in nursing (N = 7 papers): increased migration to other countries to find better work conditions [ 19 ], increased psychosocial stress [ 30 ], musculoskeletal disorders and stress [ 44 ]. Others refer to negative work attitudes, and reduced satisfaction, psychological well-being, and hospital performance [ 45 ]. Job insecurity was positively associated with depression and anxiety [ 46 ], with cardiovascular indicators such as blood pressure and cardiovascular symptoms [ 47 ], and with the increased short-term risk of suffering a heart attack in women [ 48 ].

Some papers analyzed the background to job insecurity, suggesting that aspects such as poor working conditions (limited continuing education activities, high-risk exposure, low work satisfaction, low participation in the organization of activities, poor ergonomics, poor information about outcomes, limited social recognition and support from immediate superiors), high levels of work intensity and inadequate work management processes could increase perceptions of job insecurity, and may contribute to errors in care provision [ 49 ].

A final set of papers analyzed the moderating effect of specific variables on job insecurity and its causes or outcomes. Emotional intelligence moderated the relationship between job insecurity and somatic complaints [ 50 ]. The ability to deal with emotions and relationships with supervisors was an important resource which buffered the negative consequences of job insecurity [ 50 ]. Personality characteristics (negative affectivity, positive affectivity, and external locus of control) also moderated the relationship between job insecurity and outcomes (mental health complaints, job dissatisfaction, and work-induced stress) [ 51 ]. Negative affectivity exacerbated mental health complaints and job-induced stress as a result of job insecurity, whereas positive affectivity buffered these outcomes. An external locus of control strengthened the associations of job insecurity with mental health complaints, job dissatisfaction, and job-induced tension. In addition, positive leadership and fair management alleviated the impact of job insecurity when working in a changing and uncertain environment [ 52 ]. Meanwhile, other studies reported that being younger and with less dedication to the job provided protection against the negative effects of high job insecurity on parental satisfaction [ 8 ]. Finally, the study by Sarwar, Naseer and Zhong [ 53 ] showed that job insecurity mediated the association of workplace bullying with deviant work behaviors in nurses. This indirect effect was stronger when resilience and supervisor support was low.

4. Discussion

The analysis of scientific production is an essential tool for evaluating knowledge, raising research questions and determining the progress of a discipline. These aspects applied to the context of job insecurity in the nursing lead to some interesting findings. According to the bibliometric indicators, the most significant growth occurred in 2013, with 11 published papers, which came from 157 different countries. The most productive countries were the United States, Canada, Australia, Finland, and the United Kingdom. The most prolific institutions were Toronto University (Canada), McMaster University (Canada) and Monash University (Australia). The 128 selected papers were produced by 487 researchers. The most prolific authors were Denton, Zeytinoglu, Burke, Elovainio, Heponiemi, Sinervo, Dong, Xu, and Zhang. The most cited article was written by Denton and Zeytinoglu (2002), which received 96 citations, and was written by the most prolific and extensively cited authors. The second most cited article was written by Näswall, Sverke and Hellgren (2005) with 92 citations, who are among the most cited authors, and the third article was by Tovey and Adams (1999) with 73 citations, published in the Journal of Advanced Nursing, who are among the most cited authors and appeared in the most prolific journal. Only two of the most frequently cited articles focus on job insecurity as such (articles 2 and 4). However, article 2 analyses the impact of personality in a sample of nurses, while article 4 does not deal specifically with nurses or health workers when discussing the effects of job insecurity. The remaining articles are more general assessments of the well-being and job characteristics of nurses, without a specific focus on job insecurity. When discussing insecurity, the authors consider it as ‘just one’ concept within a general analysis of labor risks or working conditions. This suggests that there are virtually no studies that specifically analyze the effects of job insecurity among nurses as a specific target group. The most collaborative authors are distributed in four groups: Denton and Zeytinoglu, followed by Elovainio, Heponiemi and Sinervo, then Zhang, Xu and Dong, and finally, Urquhart, Kelsall, and Hoe. The most collaborative authors are also the most prolific and with the most cited articles. Nevertheless, there are no authors with many publications, and even the most productive and the most cited authors have not produced many articles. All these results might suggest that job insecurity in nursing is an emerging topic, with a little academic background within the nursing field. The most widely used multi-dimensional measure was the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) [ 41 ]. The JCQ is a validated instrument used to measure the social and psychological structure of work. This instrument has 49 items, including latitude of decision (the worker’s control over their own work), discretion ability subscales, psychological requirements, supervisor and social support coworker subscales, physical demands of the job, and job insecurity. The Likert-type response scales ranged from 1 (strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly agree). It has been widely used to examine psychosocial stress factors in various work environments with appropriate psychometric properties [ 54 ].

The main results of this study are consistent with the results of the general literature on job insecurity, which reports negative correlations with job satisfaction, mental well-being, and physical health [ 5 , 7 ]. Job insecurity also correlates with sleep disorders [ 55 ], increased blood pressure [ 10 ], increased likelihood of heart disease [ 56 ], and with the increased short-term risk of suffering from a myocardial infarction [ 35 ]. Job insecurity is also related to the employment contract, with temporary employees experiencing more job insecurity than employees with a permanent contract [ 57 ]. Job insecurity is related to poorer scores for the various dimensions of burnout [ 58 ] and reduced engagement at work [ 59 , 60 ]. It is mostly measured with more broad-based instruments to assess psychosocial risks in a multi-dimensional way. This suggests that job insecurity is considered to be ‘just one of many’ occupational hazards, rather than a central issue.

These findings represent some progress in the international nursing field, as bibliometric studies on job insecurity have been lacking to date. Job insecurity is also a crucial aspect for consideration given its consequences, especially among nurses, including increased migration to other countries to find better working conditions [ 19 ], psychosocial stress [ 30 ], depression and anxiety [ 46 ], musculoskeletal disorders [ 44 ], blood pressure and cardiovascular symptoms [ 47 ], and poorer performance in the hospital [ 45 ].

This study is not without limitations, as indicators from a single database were used. Other types of indexing or journals are needed in the future. A more extensive analysis, incorporating other databases would therefore be interesting in future research. Most studies included have limitations that hinder the generalizability of the results (a specific context or region, convenience sampling, mixed sample). Perhaps it would be worthwhile placing the analyzed problems in a cultural context and without mixed samples in the future. Despite these limitations, the results are of particular interest since they summarize the available evidence in the area and present some gaps in the literature. This will help establish healthy working environments, favoring the retention of nurses and the improvement of the service provided to patients [ 61 , 62 ].

According to Schaufeli [ 63 ], future nursing research on job insecurity should focus more on uncovering the psychological mechanisms underlying the subjective experience of insecurity, and could study the consequences of job insecurity in different social security systems and based on re-employment rates. Healthcare managers can use the results to design training programs and interventions to improve working conditions. They can focus on increasing control at work, promoting open and timely communication about future organizational plans [ 64 ], increasing the participation of nurses in decision making about the future of the organization [ 65 ], and improving the employability of workers [ 66 ].

5. Conclusions

This study shows that job insecurity is a real problem for nurses and the world’s health systems, with a significant impact on their health and well-being. The main bibliometric indicators show a growth in this topic in nursing since 2013. The most productive and widely cited authors are Denton and Zeytinoglu. The most productive universities are Toronto University, McMaster University, and Monash University. The most productive countries are the United States, Canada, Australia, Finland, and the United Kingdom. The most widely used multi-dimensional measure was Karasek’s Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ). Finally, job insecurity has consequences for health, well-being, and work-related attitudes, behaviors. However, as an emerging topic, job insecurity is rarely studied in specialized literature. We consequently recommend extending this research tradition to the nursing context.

These results can be considered an initial approach to the study of job insecurity in nursing, covering the causes and consequences of job insecurity as well as the moderating variables of job insecurity (emotional intelligence, personality characteristics, positive leadership, and fair management). These moderating variables suggest several ways which organizations and policy makers can intervene to address job insecurity among their nurses.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization: V.P.-G., M.d.C.G.-E. and H.D.W.; methodology: V.P.-G., M.d.C.G.-E. and H.D.W.; software: V.P.-G., M.d.C.G.-E. and H.D.W.; validation: V.P.-G., M.d.C.G.-E. and H.D.W.; formal analysis: V.P.-G., M.d.C.G.-E. and H.D.W.; investigation: V.P.-G., M.d.C.G.-E. and H.D.W.; resources: V.P.-G., M.d.C.G.-E. and H.D.W.; data curation: V.P.-G., M.d.C.G.-E. and H.D.W.; writing (original draft preparation): V.P.-G., M.d.C.G.-E. and H.D.W.; writing (review and editing): V.P.-G., M.d.C.G.-E. and H.D.W.; visualization: V.P.-G., M.d.C.G.-E. and H.D.W.; supervision: V.P.-G., M.d.C.G.-E. and H.D.W.; project administration: V.P.-G., M.d.C.G.-E. and H.D.W.; funding acquisition: V.P.-G., M.d.C.G.-E. and H.D.W. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

This research was funded by Conselleria de Innovación, Universidades, Ciencia y Sociedad Digital, Generalitat Valenciana, (GV/2020/014).

Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Data availability statement, conflicts of interest.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Poor working conditions, job insecurity affecting employer-employee relations in Nigeria – CIPM

T he Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM) has declared that poor working conditions and job insecurity are the major factors affecting relationship between the employees and employers of labour in the country.

CIPM Chairman in Oyo state, Mrs Omolara Onipede made this declaration while speaking during the inaugural seminar organized by the Employment Relation and Human Resources Management Students Association of the Department of Sociology, University of Ibadan.

Onipede, while speaking on the topic, “The Challenges of Employment Relations in a rapidly Changing World of Work”, tasked Nigerian workers and employment relations practitioners to retool themselves in order not to be shoved aside due to the changing nature and the future of work.

She identified job insecurity, lack of job satisfaction, income inequality, workplace safety, globalization, poor working conditions as some of the factors affecting employees and employers relations in the country.

“Employment relations can be improved if organisations put employee experience first, break down walls between managers and employees, provide formal management training, celebrate successes, don’t play favourites, set an example, communicate clearly and often, be approachable, involve your employees, focus on inclusivity, build an official handbook, provide opportunities for employees to leave feedback,” she said.

President of the Employment Relation and Human Resources Management Students’ body, Olaniyan Olawale Emmanuel noted that the inaugural seminar was important.

“To know the contemporary things happening in employment relations because the world of work is changing and there is need to make people be abreast with challenges going on in the place of work, and more importantly now that technology is taking over almost everything.

“The lecture would enable students and practitioners in the employment relations field to prepare themselves for the changing nature and future of work in order to stay relevant and valuable,” he stated.

Why Ivy League And Top Colleges Value Your Summer Job Experience

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High school student summer job

With summer break on the horizon, high school students across the country will soon start working summer jobs to earn extra money and build their resumes. While many students assume that scooping ice cream or walking dogs will contribute little to their college applicant profiles, summer jobs are what students make of them. Ivy League and other top schools want to admit students who are motivated self-starters, leaders in their communities, and industrious and conscientious members of society. A summer job—whether prestigious or seemingly insignificant—is often a student’s first foray into the professional world, offering them the opportunity to practice their networking acumen, develop teamwork and leadership skills, and build connections with potential recommenders for their college applications. Students who choose to coast and collect a paycheck may get little out of their summer jobs, but those who have Ivy League aspirations should take their summer work seriously—the colleges they apply to certainly will.

Here are five ways you can maximize your summer job to enhance your professional skills, develop networking opportunities, and level up your college admissions profile:

1. Start with a Professional Mindset

The first step to making the most of your summer job is adopting a professional mindset. Take your job—no matter how small it may seem—seriously and dedicate yourself to it. It may not be the vocation you ultimately wish to pursue, but focus on how the skills you can develop in your position will contribute to your future career goals. Show up on time, dress appropriately, and be enthusiastic about your tasks. Your attitude towards your job will not only impress your supervisors but also set a strong foundation for your professional reputation.

2. Network with Colleagues and Supervisors

Networking is not just for seasoned professionals; it’s a valuable skill for high school students. First and foremost, students should seek to make their presence known at their job rather than clocking in and out without building relationships. Take the time to learn about your managers’ career paths and seek their advice about how to navigate your own. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and show genuine interest in their experiences. These connections can provide valuable insights and potentially open doors for future opportunities.

Maintaining these relationships after your summer job has ended is just as important as building them in the first place. You never know how a connection may benefit you in the future as you build your resume, and recommenders with whom you have a longer history will offer great insights in your college letters of recommendation.

Matt Damon Movie Dud Falls Off Netflix Top 10 Global Chart After 1 Week

Ios 17.5.1: apple fixes frustrating iphone photos glitch, bezos reclaims world s 2nd richest title from musk as net worth tops 200 billion, 3. develop your professional skill set.

No matter what your summer job is, you will have opportunities to hone valuable skills that will serve you throughout your career. If you are working a job in which you interact with clients (whether retail, food industry, child or pet care), you can develop your professional persona: speaking politely with clients, learning how to handle negative feedback with grace, solving problems creatively, and representing the company well. If you’re in an internally facing role, you can be diligent about showing up on time, being a team player, communicating effectively with peers and superiors, and creating an organized and effective workflow.

4. Seek Opportunities for Growth

One of the keys to maximizing any professional opportunity is setting measurable goals and taking proactive steps toward reaching them. Particularly if you return to the same job for multiple summers (which you should consider in order to demonstrate commitment and build lasting professional connections), be proactive in seeking opportunities for growth—doing so will demonstrate initiative and a willingness to learn, qualities that are highly regarded by employers and college admissions officers alike. For example, if you are working in a retail store, offer to help with inventory management or marketing efforts. If you are in a food service job, learn about the business side of the restaurant industry and offer to take on extra responsibilities. By taking on these extra tasks, you can gain a broader understanding of the business and demonstrate your commitment to professional growth.

5. Reflect on Your Experiences

One of the best things high school students can do to maximize their summer job experience on college applications is to keep a journal or written log of their experiences. Writing down the responsibilities you had and lessons you learned will help to jog your memory when it comes time to compile your activities list, help you articulate the qualities and duties you would like your supervisor to highlight in a letter of recommendation, and could even provide inspiration for your personal or supplemental essays!

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How Free School Meals Went Mainstream

Over the past decade, many more schools started to offer free meals to all children, regardless of family income.

More than 21 million American children now attend schools that offer free meals regardless of family income — a tenfold increase from 2010. Credit... Will Warasila for The New York Times

Supported by

By Susan Shain

• May 21, 2024

Kurt Marthaller, who oversees school food programs in Butte, Mont., faces many cafeteria-related challenges: children skipping the lunch line because they fear being judged, parents fuming about surprise bills they can’t afford, unpaid meal debts of $70,000 districtwide.

But at nearly half of Mr. Marthaller’s schools, these concerns have vanished. At those schools, all students get free breakfast and lunch, regardless of their family’s income. At one school, West Elementary, children grab milk cartons, cereal bars and bananas from folding tables on their way to class, with almost 80 percent of students eating breakfast there each school day.

“We’ve done a lot of good things to feed kids here in Butte,” Mr. Marthaller said. But introducing universal free meals, he added, was “probably the best thing we ever did.”

Advocates for free school meals have pushed for them to be offered to every student for a long time, but saw significant progress in the last decade and a half. Their first big win came quietly, in 2010, when Congress passed an under-the-radar policy called the community eligibility provision , which made it easier for schools to serve free meals to all. Then, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the federal government let every public school student eat for free, rapidly transforming the nation’s thinking around school meals.

Eight states have passed their own universal free meal legislation since the federal largesse ended in 2022. Dozens more have introduced similar bills or have one in the works. A surge of additional schools — nearly 7,000 — have signed up for the community eligibility program that West Elementary participates in: As of the 2022-23 school year, roughly four in 10 public schools were enrolled.

In total, more than 21 million American children now attend schools that offer free meals to all — a tenfold increase from 2010. “Schools did not want to go back to charging some kids,” said Crystal FitzSimons, the director of child nutrition programs and policy at the nonprofit Food Research and Action Center. “They saw the huge benefits of providing free meals to all students: supporting families, supporting kids, changing the culture of the cafeteria.”

A tale of two lunches

From above, Butte looks as if it were carved out of a mountain range with an ice cream scoop. Once known as “ the richest hill on Earth ” for its copper mines, Butte was one of the largest cities west of the Mississippi in its heyday. Today it has approximately 35,000 residents, many of whom have been there for generations.

Amber Moore lives on the east side of town, in a blue house with a view of Our Lady of the Rockies, a 90-foot-tall mountaintop statue of the Virgin Mary. A stay-at-home mom, she lives with her husband, Jake, a telecommunications technician, and their five children, four cats and two dogs.

The Moores’ house is zoned for Whittier Elementary School, which, unlike West, does not participate in community eligibility and does not have universal free meals. So five nights a week, Ms. Moore clears off a patch of her kitchen counter and sets out five lunchboxes. In goes the SunnyD, the cheese stick, the ham-and-cheese sandwich, the Lay’s, the clementine and the fruit snacks. Ms. Moore uses three loaves of bread each week just on lunches. Add breakfast to the equation and she spends about $250 per month on the two meals.

“That’s like a power bill,” she said. “It’s not a small amount.” That bill was eliminated during the pandemic. For those two years, Ms. Moore’s children ate breakfast and lunch at school every day. Then, like the majority of schools around the country, Whittier returned to charging for meals in August 2022. And Ms. Moore returned to packing lunches.

Though low-income students at all American public schools technically qualify for free and reduced-price meals, one-third of eligible students do not participate, according to a Food Research and Action Center estimate. One reason is stigma: Because the school-provided meal, often called “hot lunch,” has long been viewed as a form of welfare , eating it can be a painful marker of poverty.

Parents may also fail to complete the requisite paperwork because they have volatile incomes, face language barriers or are embarrassed about their finances. (As Mr. Marthaller put it, “I think it’s a pride thing.”) Others may be struggling but ineligible: To receive free or reduced-price meals, a family of four must earn less than $55,500 per year . When meals are free to all, advocates say, these obstacles are eliminated.

The Moores don’t qualify for reduced-price meals: Mr. Moore’s income puts them over the limit by $465 a month. “It’s one of those frustrating things,” Ms. Moore said. “I’m sure a lot of parents are in that middle area where it’s like, well, shoot.”

‘Their brains are fired up’

The push for a national school lunch program initially came during the Great Depression , when children were hungry and farmers had surpluses to sell. In the 1960s, school breakfast was added. School meals have since become the nation’s second-largest food safety net , after food stamps.

As childhood obesity rates soared, however, the lunch program was criticized as a contributing factor. In 2010, the first lady, Michelle Obama, who made childhood obesity a signature issue, pressed for the passage of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which led school cafeterias to serve more fruits, vegetables and whole grains and less salt, sugar and unhealthy fats. Policymakers also saw it as an opportunity to feed more hungry children. So, without much fanfare, they tucked the community eligibility provision, or C.E.P., inside the bill.

Under the C.E.P., offering universal free meals became less cumbersome: If 40 percent of a school or district’s students qualify for programs like food stamps or Head Start or are homeless, migrants or in foster care, it can serve free meals to everyone . It does not need to collect individual applications; it simply applies for the program and is qualified for the next four years.

Even the C.E.P.’s architects have been surprised by its impact. “I certainly did not foresee that a little more than 10 years later, 20 million kids would be enrolled in schools that were doing C.E.P.,” said Cindy Long, administrator of the Food and Nutrition Service of the Agriculture Department, who helped design the 2010 act.

The benefits of universal free meals are myriad, experts say. Most crucially, more children eat , helping to combat hunger in a country where 17 percent of households with children experience food insecurity. They also eat more healthful food . When students are well fed, they learn better: Some research suggests that schoolwide free meals can improve test scores , attendance and behavior . Such programs also help schools, by lessening paperwork, and parents, by reducing food expenses .

Like most people, Amanda Denny, a fourth-grade teacher at West Elementary, had never heard of the C.E.P. But she has seen the difference that universal school meals can make. “In my classroom, when those kids do eat breakfast, they are ready to start their day,” she said. “Their brains are fired up, and they’re ready to learn.”

Last October, the threshold to qualify for the C.E.P. was lowered , making more schools and districts eligible. The Moores’ school, Whittier, is now eligible, as are most other schools in Butte. But because of how the federal government calculates reimbursements for school meals, only schools with high populations of needy students break even using the C.E.P.; the rest usually lose money by participating . Advocates have been pushing for higher reimbursement rates so more schools can afford the program.

But in one draft federal budget, House Republicans proposed ending the C.E.P. altogether, arguing that public funds shouldn’t pay for wealthy children to eat lunch . Jonathan Butcher, an education researcher at the Heritage Foundation, believes school lunch aid has ballooned far beyond its original intent. He would like to see the provision repealed.

“They’re not just saying, ‘How can we better get food to kids that need it? They’re saying: ‘Eh, let’s not bother with the details. Let’s just give it to everybody’,” Mr. Butcher said. “That’s not being respectful to taxpayers, nor is it advancing the idea that we should improve a very wasteful school lunch program.”

Most of the states that have passed their own free school meal legislation did so with bipartisan support. To pay for the programs, California, Maine, Minnesota, New Mexico, Vermont and Michigan tapped general revenue or education funds ; Massachusetts and Colorado raised taxes on their highest earners. (In Colorado, the program has been so popular that it is facing a $56 million funding shortfall this year.)

Ms. FitzSimons, of the Food Research and Action Center, believes food is just as integral to public education as transportation and books, which are typically offered to students at no charge. “We spend billions of dollars on funding for education,” she said. “If kids are sitting in class unable to learn because they’re hungry, because their stomachs are growling, then we’re wasting our money.”

At West Elementary, a stuffed bison head presides over the cafeteria. There is no cash register, and at lunchtime, children whiz through the line, grabbing trays of applesauce and teriyaki-doused “steakettes.” They plop down next to friends eating peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches from colorful lunchboxes.

Ryder is a third grader who wants to be a YouTuber or a police officer when he grows up (and, he said, “if that doesn’t work out, NASA”). He was shocked to learn that children at other schools have to pay for lunch. “That’s mean,” he said. His friend Louis agreed: “That is cold.”

Things were different for Kaylee Rabson, a fifth-generation Butte resident whose son attends West. “When we were younger, it was definitely very separated,” she said. “Like, if you went to hot lunch, you were kind of embarrassed.” Now, all her son’s friends eat the school lunch — at least when pizza or walking tacos (ground beef, veggies and cheese in a Doritos bag) are on the menu.

“It’s ‘I eat hot lunch because it sounds good, not because I need to.’ It really has erased the stigma,” Ms. Rabson said. “They’re just there having lunch together.”

What are your experiences with free or reduced-price lunch?

This story was published by The New York Times’s Headway team in partnership with High Country News.

The Headway initiative is funded through grants from the Ford Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), with Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors serving as a fiscal sponsor. The Woodcock Foundation is a funder of Headway’s public square. Funders have no control over the selection or focus of stories or the editing process and do not review stories before publication. The Times retains full editorial control of the Headway initiative.

Susan Shain is a reporting fellow for Headway, a section of The Times that explores the world's challenges through the lens of progress. More about Susan Shain

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• 21 May 2024

Pay researchers to spot errors in published papers

• Malte Elson 0

Malte Elson is an associate professor of the psychology of digitalization at the University of Bern, Switzerland.

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

You have full access to this article via your institution.

In 2023, Google awarded a total of US$10 million to researchers who found vulnerabilities in its products. Why? Because allowing errors to go undetected could be much costlier. Data breaches could lead to refund claims, reduced customer trust or legal liability.

It’s not just private technology companies that invest in such ‘bug bounty’ programmes. Between 2016 and 2021, the US Department of Defense awarded more than US$650,000 to people who found weaknesses in its networks .

Just as many industries devote hefty funding to incentivizing people to find and report bugs and glitches, so the science community should reward the detection and correction of errors in the scientific literature. In our industry, too, the costs of undetected errors are staggering.

Retractions are increasing, but not enough

That’s why I have joined with meta-scientist Ian Hussey at the University of Bern and psychologist Ruben Arslan at Leipzig University in Germany to pilot a bug-bounty programme for science, funded by the University of Bern. Our project, Estimating the Reliability and Robustness of Research (ERROR), pays specialists to check highly cited published papers, starting with the social and behavioural sciences (see go.nature.com/4bmlvkj ). Our reviewers are paid a base rate of up to 1,000 Swiss francs (around US$1,100) for each paper they check, and a bonus for any errors they find. The bigger the error, the greater the reward — up to a maximum of 2,500 francs.

Authors who let us scrutinize their papers are compensated, too: 250 francs to cover the work needed to prepare files or answer reviewer queries, and a bonus 250 francs if no errors (or only minor ones) are found in their work.

ERROR launched in February and will run for at least four years. So far, we have sent out almost 60 invitations, and 13 sets of authors have agreed to have their papers assessed. One review has been completed , revealing minor errors.

I hope that the project will demonstrate the value of systematic processes to detect errors in published research. I am convinced that such systems are needed, because current checks are insufficient.

Structure peer review to make it more robust

Unpaid peer reviewers are overburdened , and have little incentive to painstakingly examine survey responses, comb through lists of DNA sequences or cell lines, or go through computer code line by line. Mistakes frequently slip through. And researchers have little to gain personally from sifting through published papers looking for errors. There is no financial compensation for highlighting errors , and doing so can see people marked out as troublemakers.

Yet failing to keep abreast of this issue comes at a huge cost. Imagine a single PhD student building their work on an erroneous finding. In Switzerland, their cumulative salary alone will run to six figures. Flawed research that is translated into health care, policymaking or engineering can harm people. And there are opportunity costs — for every grant awarded to a project unknowingly building on errors, another project is not pursued.

Like technology companies, stakeholders in science must realize that making error detection and correction part of the scientific landscape is a sound investment.

Funders, for instance, have a vested interest in ensuring that the money that they distribute as grants is not wasted. Publishers stand to improve their reputations by ensuring that some of their resources are spent on quality management. And, by supporting these endeavours, scientific associations could help to foster a culture in which acknowledgement of errors is considered normal — or even commendable — and not a mark of shame.

How ‘research impact bonds’ could transform science funding

I know that ERROR is a bold experiment. Some researchers might have qualms. I’ve been asked whether reviewers might exaggerate the gravity of errors in pursuit of a large bug bounty, or attempt to smear a colleague they dislike. It’s possible, but hyperbole would be a gamble, given that all reviewer reports are published on our website and are not anonymized. And we guard against exaggeration. A ‘recommender’ from among ERROR’s staff and advisory board members — none of whom receive a bounty — acts as an intermediary, weighing up reviewer findings and author responses before deciding on the payout.

Another fair criticism is that ERROR’s paper selection will be biased. The ERROR team picks papers that are highly cited and checks them only if the authors agree to it. Authors who suspect their work might not withstand scrutiny could be less likely to opt in. But selecting papers at random would introduce a different bias, because we would be able to assess only those for which some minimal amount of data and code was freely available. And we’d spend precious resources checking some low-impact papers that only a few people build research on.

My goal is not to prove that a bug-bounty programme is the best mechanism for correcting errors, or that it is applicable to all science. Rather, I want to start a conversation about the need for dedicated investment in error detection and correction. There are alternatives to bug bounties — for instance, making error detection its own viable career path and hiring full-time scientific staff to check each institute’s papers. Of course, care would be needed to ensure that such schemes benefited researchers around the world equally.

Scholars can’t expect errors to go away by themselves. Science can be self-correcting — but only if we invest in making it so.

Nature 629 , 730 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-01465-y

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The author declares no competing interests.

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