Job insecurity fluctuations and support towards Italian precarious schoolteachers

Abstract

PurposeThe negative consequences of job insecurity on the well-being of individuals are well known. However, the perceptions of job insecurity over time and how some factors such as social support may affect them have received limited attention. This study follows precarious schoolteachers for three weeks before the end of their contract to explore how their perceptions of job insecurity evolve over time.Design/methodology/approachThe participants were 47 precarious schoolteachers who first completed a general questionnaire, then a diary survey on nine occasions over the course of the three weeks. Data was analysed with MPLUS 7.3.FindingsThe results suggest intra-individual differences regarding the way job insecurity was perceived over time. An additional discovery was that support provided by the school principal was negatively related to changes in job insecurity over time.Research limitations/implicationsThe relatively small sample size, which includes only precarious schoolteachers, and the methodology complexity of the diary are limitations of this study.Practical implicationsThis study highlights the subjective nature of the perceptions of job insecurity. It also shows the importance of the school principal's social support towards precarious schoolteachers; therefore, practitioners should propose interventions to enhance the quality of principal–teachers relationships.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature by investigating how perceptions of job insecurity evolve over time and the role of social support.

Publishing quantitative careers research: challenges and recommendations

“…Despite the measurement effort requiredlatent growth curve mediation models require a minimum of nine measurement occasions to explain the temporal order of events (Selig and Preacher, 2009)the use of LGM is well established in the career literature (e.g. Giunchi et al, 2020;Hirschi and Fischer, 2013).…”

Daily relationships between job insecurity and emotional labor amid COVID-19: Mediation of ego depletion and moderation of off-job control and work-related smartphone use.

“…Absence from work resulting from COVID-19 infection or quarantine renders service employees susceptible to financial instability and job loss (Chen & Eyoun, 2021). Empirical findings have demonstrated daily and weekly fluctuations in employees’ perceptions of job insecurity (Garrido Vásquez et al, 2019; Giunchi et al, 2020; Schreurs et al, 2012; Schumacher et al, 2021). Moreover, even though employees are exposed to the same market and economic conditions, their perceptions of job insecurity differ according to their career adaptability and marketability (Spurk et al, 2016).…”

“…As employees’ subjective job insecurity has a more immediate effect on their well-being than objective job insecurity (Helbling & Kanji, 2018), we contend that employees’ subjective perceptions of job insecurity are more important and relevant for daily work outcomes than objective job status. Drawing on previous day-level research (Garrido Vásquez et al, 2019; Giunchi et al, 2020), we conceptualized job nsecurity as employees’ concerns about potential job loss experienced on a particular day.…”