IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ehl/lserod/125305.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Do workers speak up when feeling job insecure? Examining workers’ response to precarity during the COVID-19 pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Rho, Hye Jin
  • Riordan, Christine
  • Ibsen, Christian Lyhne
  • Lamare, J. Ryan
  • Tapia, Maite

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic inflicted unprecedented precarity upon workers, including concerns about job insecurity. We examine whether workers respond to job insecurity with voice, and assess the role of unions, managers, and employment arrangements in this relationship. Analyses of an original 2020 survey representative of Illinois and Michigan workers show that job insecurity is not significantly associated with voice. Further, while we find that union membership and confidence in organized labor are positively associated with voice, insecure workers are less likely to speak up than secure workers as confidence in organized labor increases. Last, we find that insecure nonstandard workers are less likely to use voice than their secure counterparts.

Suggested Citation

  • Rho, Hye Jin & Riordan, Christine & Ibsen, Christian Lyhne & Lamare, J. Ryan & Tapia, Maite, 2023. "Do workers speak up when feeling job insecure? Examining workers’ response to precarity during the COVID-19 pandemic," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 125305, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:125305
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/125305/
    File Function: Open access version.
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Johnny Hellgren & Antonio Chirumbolo, 2003. "Can Union Support Reduce the Negative Effects of Job Insecurity on Well-Being?," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 24(2), pages 271-289, May.
    2. Magnus Sverke & Sjoerd Goslinga, 2003. "The Consequences of Job Insecurity for Employers and Unions: Exit, Voice and Loyalty," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 24(2), pages 241-270, May.
    3. Magnus Sverke & Johnny Hellgren, 2001. "Exit, Voice and Loyalty Reactions to Job Insecurity in Sweden: Do Unionized and Non‐unionized Employees Differ?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 39(2), pages 167-182, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Adrian Chadi & Laszlo Goerke, 2023. "Seeking shelter in times of crisis? unemployment, perceived job insecurity and trade union membership," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 90(359), pages 1041-1088, July.
    2. Ümran Yüce-Selvi & Nebi Sümer & Yonca Toker-Gültaş & Lena Låstad & Magnus Sverke, 2023. "Behavioral Reactions to Job Insecurity Climate Perceptions: Exit, Voice, Loyalty, and Neglect," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(9), pages 1-13, May.
    3. JaeWon Shin & HyoungChul Shin, 2020. "Impact of Job Insecurity on Hotel Workers’ Workaholism and Work–Family Conflict in Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-12, October.
    4. Felipe Muñoz Medina & Sergio López Bohle & Lixin Jiang & Maria José Chambel & Sebastian M Ugarte, 2023. "Qualitative job insecurity and voice behavior: Evaluation of the mediating effect of affective organizational commitment," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 44(4), pages 986-1006, November.
    5. Johnny Hellgren & Antonio Chirumbolo, 2003. "Can Union Support Reduce the Negative Effects of Job Insecurity on Well-Being?," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 24(2), pages 271-289, May.
    6. Matsui, Muneya & Yoshimi, Taiyo, 2015. "Macroeconomic dynamics in a model with heterogeneous wage contracts," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 72-80.
    7. Gansemans, A. & D'Haese, M., 2018. "Flying under the radar: The impact of plantation workers job insecurity on perceived labour agency," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277742, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    8. Shen, Zheng & Fang, Xiangming & Zheng, Xiaodong, 2022. "The impact of women's off-farm employment on depressive symptoms: Evidence from rural China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 311(C).
    9. Konkel Marta & Heffernan Margaret, 2021. "How job insecurity affects emotional exhaustion? A study of job insecurity rumination and psychological capital during COVID-19," The Irish Journal of Management, Sciendo, vol. 40(2), pages 86-99, December.
    10. Yijing Lyu & Chia-Huei Wu & Ho Kwong Kwan & Cynthia Lee & Hong Deng, 2023. "Why and when job insecurity hinders employees’ taking charge behavior: The role of flexibility and work-based self-esteem," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 44(3), pages 853-874, August.
    11. Magnus Sverke & Sjoerd Goslinga, 2003. "The Consequences of Job Insecurity for Employers and Unions: Exit, Voice and Loyalty," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 24(2), pages 241-270, May.
    12. Felipe Muñoz Medina & Sergio López Bohle & Sebastian M. Ugarte & Maria José Chambel & Erika Wall, 2022. "Employees Perceptions of Job Insecurity and Performance: A Qualitative Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-14, December.
    13. Moreno Baruffini, 2019. "Perceptions of Job Insecurity in Switzerland: Evidence Using Verbal and Numerical Descriptors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-18, May.
    14. repec:diw:diwwpp:dp688 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Joshua D. Pitts & Brent A. Evans, 2023. "New contracts and dismissal threats from highly drafted rookies: What motivates NFL quarterbacks?," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(1), pages 4-16, January.
    16. Annelien Gansemans & Marijke D’Haese, 2020. "Staying under the radar: constraints on labour agency of pineapple plantation workers in Costa Rica?," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 37(2), pages 397-414, June.
    17. Saqib Muneer & Khalid Jamil & Muhammad Idrees, 2018. "A Study of Casual Relationship of Job Design and Employee’s Behavior," Information Management and Business Review, AMH International, vol. 9(6), pages 26-35.
    18. Katharina Näswall & Hans De Witte, 2003. "Who Feels Insecure in Europe? Predicting Job Insecurity from Background Variables," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 24(2), pages 189-215, May.
    19. Weidenstedt, Linda, 2017. "Does One Size Fit All? Investigating Different Empowerment Orientations in the Heterogeneous Workforce of the Swedish Retail Sector," Ratio Working Papers 296, The Ratio Institute.
    20. OSHO, Olayinka Kayode PhD, 2023. "Employee Loyalty And Organizational Performance," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 7(1), pages 552-567, January.
    21. Julian Emmler & Bernd Fitzenberger, 2022. "Temporary overpessimism: Job loss expectations following a large negative employment shock," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(3), pages 621-661, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    COVID-19; employment precarity; job security; nonstandard work; unions; voice;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R14 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Land Use Patterns
    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General
    • J50 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - General

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:125305. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: LSERO Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/lsepsuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.