With inflation increasing prices of food, gas, and many baby products…the importance of having a stable and well-paying job is substantial. When it comes to hiring employees for a company of 15 employees or 15,000 employees—an emphasis on job security is important. BetterYou has covered topics about employee satisfaction in the past but what exactly is job insecurity? A psychological journal called Frontiers defined job insecurity as: ““the perceived powerlessness to maintain desired continuity in a threatened job situation” (Greenhalgh and Rosenblatt, 1984, 438).” The inevitable fear of losing a job, being laid off/fired or the company closing down all together.
The Effects
Frontier’s writers also talk about the negative impacts on individual’s overall health and wellness which include:
- Depressive disorders
- Anxiety
- Negative impact on physical well-being
- Risk for heart diseases
If someone feels like their job is unstable, the worker can become unstable and that is not healthy for anyone. The effects of job insecurity can be long lasting and can affect someone obtaining a new job in fear that the same thing will happen again. If a worker is left without a livable amount of hours to work, laid off without proper notice, or the company shuts down—the worker loses trust.
Working for temp agencies is a prime example of job insecurity and that reflects it in this survey. “The Fifth Survey in 2010 also showed that 53% of temporary agency workers had poor employment security, in contrast to 39% of those on fixed term contracts and 11% of permanent employees.”
Only half of the workers knew what job security was. For those who have bills to pay and families to feed…how is that fair? Why should half of a company know what next week holds when the other one does not? Something needs to change, especially since the pandemic has only made matters worse. We need to do better for our employees.
