Employees Perceptions of Job Insecurity and Performance: A Qualitative Approach

Felipe Muñoz Medina (), Sergio López Bohle (), Sebastian M. Ugarte, Maria José Chambel and Erika Wall ()
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Felipe Muñoz Medina: Departamento de Tecnologías de Gestión, Facultad Tecnológica, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Santiago 9170022, Chile
Sergio López Bohle: Departamento de Administración, Facultad de Administración y Economía, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Santiago 9170020, Chile
Sebastian M. Ugarte: Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Chile, Santiago 8330015, Chile
Maria José Chambel: Faculdade de Psicologia, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-013 Lisboa, Portugal
Erika Wall: Department of Health Sciences, Mid Sweden University, 831 25 Ostersund, Sweden

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 24, 1-14

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to understand the experience of workers’ perceptions of job insecurity and its relation to performance. To this end, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 38 workers in the retail, services, education, financial, construction, and pharmaceutical industries in Chile. Using content analysis based on workers’ accounts of their own experience, we identified two main categories: (a) the experience of job insecurity viewed in relation to the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and emotional aspects of job insecurity, and (b) the relation between job insecurity and performance. The possibility of job loss expresses itself in experiences and emotions that are related to the performance of workers in different ways. These findings are discussed in terms of stress theory and the motivation to preserve jobs.

Keywords: COVID-19; experience; emotions; content analysis; interview study (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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