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

Hye Jin Rho, Christine Riordan, Christian Lyhne Ibsen, J. Ryan Lamare and Maite Tapia

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

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.

Keywords: COVID-19; employment precarity; job security; nonstandard work; unions; voice (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J01 J50 R14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 33 pages
Date: 2023-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hrm
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published in Work and Occupations, February, 2023, 50(1), pp. 97-129. ISSN: 0730-8884

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