Organizational antecedents and outcomes of job insecurity: a longitudinal study in three organizations in Finland

The aim of the study was to examine perceived job insecurity and its organizational antecedents and outcomes within a one-year time period. The study was carried out by means of questionnaires, which were responded to twice, in 1995 (Time 1) and 1996 (Time 2), by employees in three organizations: a factory, a bank, and a municipal social and health care department. The present article is based on the data of those employees (n=210) who participated in the study in both years. The results indicated that perceived job insecurity varied with gender and organization, but not with time. In particular, female employees in the bank reported a high level of job insecurity compared with men. The use of a restorative strategy by management at Time 1 decreased job insecurity at Time 2, whereas job insecurity at Time 1 weakened the quality of human relations and perceived efficiency within the organizations at Time 2. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.