ABSTRACT
Virtually every sector of the American economy is experiencing financial pressures due to commercial rivalries around the globe, government deregulation of industry, and the increasing pace of organizational technology change. As a result, massive layoffs, conversion of full-time jobs to part-time positions, and the increase of temporary workers are but a few of the realities facing organizations and workers today. In 1998 alone, U.S. corporations announced a record 570,000 layoffs (Jacoby, 1998). These are impressive numbers. However, they do not capture the number of employees who might be concerned that their job may be the next slated for “right-sizing.” Ultimately, what is perhaps most critical to consider is that in the United States, a person’s job is one of the most important mechanisms through which one gains a sense of identity. As Judge and Hulin (1993) noted, “To do nothing may be to be nothing for many Americans” (p. 413). Therefore, as organizations continue to downsize, merge with other organizations, and otherwise restructure, several questions become significant:
What impact do such organizational changes have on the job security of individual workers?
What other factors might alter perceptions of job security?
Is it meaningful to distinguish between perceptions of job security, satisfaction with job security, and affective reactions to events that might alter job security?
What are the cognitive, affective, physical, and behavioral consequences of heightened job insecurity?
