Repeated Downsizing Contact: The Effects of Similar and Dissimilar Layoff Experiences on Work and Well-Being Outcomes

How Is Job Insecurity Related to Workers' Work-Family Conflict during the Pandemic? The Mediating Role of Working Excessively and Techno-Overload

The current labor market is characterized by drastic changes linked to the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) and post-COVID-19 transformations, which have decreased job security and job stability. As a result, the feeling of losing one's job has become even more common among European workers. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether and how job insecurity would be related to work-family conflict during the pandemic. Online self-report questionnaires assessing job insecurity, working excessively, techno-overload, and work-to-family conflict were completed by 266 workers from Italy. Descriptive analyses, confirmatory factor analyses, and structural equation mediation models were conducted. Job insecurity was positively associated with work-to-family conflict, both directly and indirectly, as mediated by techno-overload and a tendency to work excessively. This study advances the literature, as it is the first to identify techno-overload and working excessively as parallel psychological mechanisms linking job insecurity to work-family conflict among Italian workers during the pandemic. Workers could benefit from technological workload monitoring programs, techno effectiveness, and time management training programs. Companies could also consider implementing family-friendly and digital disconnection practices.

How Fear of External Threats Plays Roles: An Examination of Supervisors' Trait Anger, Abusive Supervision, Subordinate Burnout and CCB

In times of uncertainty, such as during COVID-19, many organizations experience profit decline, and employees develop a fear of external threats, such as organizational layoffs. However, most of the literature focuses on how people's fear influences their well-being. Less is known about how employees' fear of external threats influences their workplace behaviors. The current study proposes that supervisors' fear of external threats stimulates those who are high in trait anger to behave in a more abusive way. Simultaneously, subordinates' fear of external threats would strengthen the positive relationship between abusive supervision and their burnout and compulsory citizenship behaviors (CCB), as fear of external threats constrains their response options to abusive supervision. We tested the hypotheses with a multiwave and multisource survey study (N = 322 dyads) in China, and the results showed that supervisors' fear of external threats strengthened the positive effect of trait anger on abusive supervision. Subordinates' fear of external threats strengthens the positive relationships of abusive supervision with CCB and the mediating effect of abusive supervision in the relationship of supervisors' trait anger with subordinates' CCB. Our study enriches people's understanding of how supervisors' and subordinates' fear of external threats may play roles in workplace behaviors.

Does persistent precarious employment affect health outcomes among working age adults? A systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the impact of persistent precarious employment (lasting 12+ months) on the health of working age adults, compared with more stable employment. Persistent precarity reflects a shift towards less secure forms of employment and may be particularly important for health.

METHODS

Nine databases were systematically searched to identify quantitative studies that assessed the relationship between persistent precarious employment and health outcomes. Risk of bias (RoB) was assessed using an adaptation of the Effective Public Health Practice Project tool. Narrative synthesis and random effects meta-analysis were conducted. Certainty of evidence was assessed using the Grades of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach.

RESULTS

Of 12 940 records screened, 50 studies met the inclusion criteria and 29 were included in meta-analyses. RoB was generally high (n=18). The most reported outcome domain was mental health; with evidence also reported relating to general health, physical health,and health behaviours. Of GRADE assessed outcomes, persistent precarious employment was associated with increased risk of poor self-rated health (OR 1.53, 95% CI 1.09 to 2.14, I2=80%) and mental health symptoms (OR 1.44, 95% CI 1.23 to 1.70, I2=65%). The association with all-cause mortality was imprecisely estimated (OR 1.10, 5% CI 0.91 to 1.33, I2=73%). There was very low GRADE certainty across all outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

Persistent precarious employment is associated with poorer health, particularly for outcomes with short time lags, though associations are small and causality is highly uncertain. Further research using more robust methods is needed but given potential health harms of persistent precarious employment, exploration of precautionary labour regulations and employment policies is warranted.

COVID-19-Induced Downsizing and Survivors' Syndrome: The Moderating Role of Transformational Leadership

Downsizing due to COVID-19 (COV-DS) and its consequences on laid-off employees has attracted the attention of many researchers, around the globe. However, the underlying mechanisms that explain the effects of COVID-19 downsizing (COV-DS) on the employees who have survived cutoffs remain underexplored. Grounded in the conservation of resources theory, this manuscript aims to study the causal path through which COV-DS reduces the survivors' affective commitment. The current study proposes the mediation of survivors' job uncertainty, stress, and organizational identification between COV-DS and survivors' affective commitment. This study also posits the moderating role of transformational leadership between COV-DS and both the mediators. The extant study has employed WARPED partial least square WARP PLS 7 and Hayes Process Macro to test the hypothesized relationships. Using the sample of 274 employees from the private sector of Pakistan, it was found that job uncertainty's stress strongly mediates the relationship between COV-DS and survivors' affective commitment. While mediation of survivors' organizational identification was not proven to be significant. However, with the moderation of transformational leadership, both the mediators were proven to be significant.

COVID-19-induced layoff, survivors' COVID-19-related stress and performance in hospitality industry: The moderating role of social support

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the hospitality industry hard globally, resulting in millions of employees being laid off. Drawing upon the conservation of resources theory, this study aims to empirically examine how and when COVID-19-induced layoff influences employees' in-role and extra-role performance in the hospitality industry. We tested this model by using field data collected from 302 employees and their supervisors in China across two waves. Results revealed that COVID-19-induced layoff increases survivors' COVID-19-related stress, which in turn leads to decreased in-role and extra-role performance. The strength of these indirect effects is mitigated by perceived family support against COVID-19. Unexpectedly, perceived organizational support against COVID-19 intensifies these indirect effects. The theoretical and practical implications of this study are further discussed.

The Influence of Gender Inequality in the Development of Job Insecurity: Differences Between Women and Men

Job insecurity is an indicator of precarious work that refers to the fear of losing one's job. It is a relevant source of stress, with negative consequences on people's mental health. The main objective and contribution of this study is to identify how gender inequality and job insecurity are related, responding to the lack of consensus found in scientific literature in this field of study. To do so, a predictive study of job insecurity, broken down by gender, is developed, considering sociodemographic and labor variables as antecedents. The sample included 1,005 employees (420 men and 585 women) aged between 18 and 65, and a linear regression was conducted for each group. Results show that women perceive greater insecurity under precarious working conditions (temporary work, informal work, salary cuts, tenure), whereas in the case of men variables related to their professional careers (job category, education) and household incomes were relevant predictors. It is concluded that job insecurity affects both gender groups, but the conditions in which this perception grows are significantly impacted by gender inequality. These findings will allow for holistic and effective actions to decrease the effects of precarious work.

Assessing the Risk of Stress in Organizations: Getting the Measure of Organizational-Level Stressors

Great Britain's Health and Safety Executive (HSE) developed the Management Standards Indicator Tool to help organizations to assess and monitor organizational risks of work-related stress through surveying employees about the psychosocial risks for stress in their jobs. The use of employee-level data for deriving an organizational-level measure of psychosocial risks assumes that the constructs have equivalent meanings at different levels. However, this isomorphic condition has never been tested and this study fills this gap. Using data collected by the Italian Workers' Compensation Authority (INAIL) from 66,188 employees nested in 775 organizations, we demonstrate that the organizational-level measure representing the seven dimensions of the Management Standards Indicator Tool is equivalent, though not identical, to the individual-level measure. This implies that the organizational level is not a mirror of the aggregation of the individual level, and that the risk of work-related stress in an organization may derive not simply from bottom-up processes, but may be generated by top-down influences (e.g., organizational policies). Interventions may then be meaningfully targeted at the organizational level in the expectation that they will reduce the risk of work-related stress among the entire workforce, the valid measurement of which can be performed through the HSE's Management Standards Indicator Tool.

The Effect of Organizational Changes on the Psychosocial Work Environment: Changes in Psychological and Social Working Conditions Following Organizational Changes

Purpose: The present study aimed to clarify the prospective effects of various types and frequencies of organizational changes on aspects in the psychosocial work environment. Methods: The study had a prospective, full-panel, repeated measures design. Data were collected by self-administered, online questionnaires, with a 2-year interval between measurement occasions. Five types of organizational change were assessed - company restructuring, downsizing, layoffs, partial closure, and partial outsourcing. The effects of change on eleven, specific work factors were measured utilizing QPS Nordic. At baseline, 12652 employees participated, while 8965 responded at follow-up. Generalized estimating equations were utilized to estimate the effects of change taking place within the last 12 months or more than 24 months prior. Results: Cross-sectional analyses, i.e., changes occurring within the last 12 months, showed all 11 work factors to be statistically significantly associated with the organizational changes restructuring, downsizing, and partial closure (coefficients ranging -0.28 to 0.04). In the prospective analyses, i.e., the effects of change taking place more than 24 months prior, associations were no longer significant for a number of work factors, although all types of organizational change remained significantly associated with at least three work factors (coefficients ranging -0.14 to 0.05). Following repeated organizational changes, statistically significant associations were shown for all 11 work factors (coefficients ranging from 0.39 to -0.04). Conclusion: Following both separate and repeated organizational change, various psychological and social work factors were altered, with the most pronounced effects following repeated change. These results suggest the implementing organizational change, especially repeated change, may have an adverse effect on various parts of the psychosocial work environment. The negative effects of a company's psychosocial working conditions may contribute to the adverse health effects often observed following such changes and help explain why many change initiatives fail to reach its intended results.

Leading Through Innovation Project Setbacks: How Authentic Leaders Keep Their Innovators Resilient

The failure rate of innovation projects is substantial. Even innovation projects that fare well are sometimes terminated before completion. However, given the importance of innovator passion and commitment to innovative endeavors for successful innovation, such terminations pose the clear and present danger of negatively affecting subsequent innovation projects. Therefore, it is a key leadership task in the innovation arena to maintain innovator passion for their endeavors despite such setbacks. Our research indicates that authentic leadership is likely to bolster innovator resilience potential in order to minimize the human cost of innovation project terminations.

Changes of depression and job stress in workers after merger without downsizing

Background

Since the 1980s, restructuring, which includes downsizing, closures, mergers, and privatization, has expanded worldwide, and various studies have investigated its effect on health. However, previous studies have mainly focused on restructuring accompanied by massive lay-offs, and the effect of a merger on workers’ health is still controversial. This study aims to investigate changes in worker depression and job stress after a merger without downsizing, which is unusual in Korea.

Methods

Repeated surveys were done in April 2014, April 2015, and April 2016 involving the participation of 209 subjects. Participants were divided into two groups, which were comprised of blue-collar workers (104) and white-collar workers (105). Sociodemographic characteristics, including age, education level, job tenure, gender, marital status, smoking status, and alcohol consumption, were measured via a survey. To determine the level of depression, the Korean version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) was employed, and to investigate job stress, the Korean Occupational Stress Scale-Short Form (KOSS-SF) was used. For statistical analyses, Pearson’s chi-square test, the Student’s t-test, and repeated measure analysis of variance (ANOVA) were performed.

Results

The results showed that depression (CES-D, F[2, 400] = 0.466, p = 0.628) was changed but without significance and job stress (KOSS-SF, F[1.899, 379.831] = 3.192, p = 0.045) were significantly different. The between-group difference in the CES-D score between the blue- and white-collar workers by survey administration time was not statistically significant (F = 0.316, p = 0.574). The interaction between the survey time and occupational group was also not statistically significant (F = 0.967, p = 0.381). The between-group difference in the KOSS-SF total score was not statistically significant (F = 1.132, p = 0.289), and the interaction between the survey administration time and occupational group was also not significant (F = 0.817, p = 0.437). In the job stress subgroup analyses Job insecurity and Lack of reward showed a significant difference by survey administration time.

Conclusion

This study showed that a merger without massive downsizing can cause negative health effects such as an changes in depression and increase in job stress. To improve the health of workers, both the immediate negative effects on health, and the long-term effects or their resolution over time should be considered prior to the merger.

Three strikes and you are out?

Purpose

Much has been written in both the management and finance literatures about the impact of downsizing on the financial health and market valuation of companies. However, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the frequency of downsizing and the impact of frequent downsizings. The purpose of this paper is to look at trends in downsizing, asking the question are companies that downsize once more likely to downsize again. The paper also looks at the impact of frequent downsizing, asking the question are frequent downsizers differentially impacted compared to less frequent downsizers.

Design/methodology/approach

Companies that appeared on the Fortune 500 in 2014 and were also on the list in 2008 were assessed for the impact of repeat downsizings on financial measures (profitability, efficiency, debt, and revenue) and market valuation. A trend analysis was conducted to assess the trend in downsizing and repeated downsizing from 2008 through 2014. A series of univariate analysis of variances were conducted to assess the impact of repeated downsizings on the financial and market valuation indicators.

Findings

Findings indicate that companies that downsize between 2008 and 2009 were more likely to downsize again in future years. And this repeat downsizing happened at a higher rate than would be expected by the percentage of companies that initially downsized. Findings also indicate that multiple downsizings had a significantly negative impact on the company’s financial performance as measured by two profitability ratios (return on assets and return on investment) and a borderline significant negative impact on the company’s market valuation as measured by stock equity, regardless of industry or initial financial health of the company.

Originality/value

Two competing theories were considered and the evidence found here support both. However, the “band-aid solution” theory, that downsizing may function as a band-aid addressing the symptoms that lead to the downsizing but not the underlying disorder or cause may be a more parsimonious explanation for the results here. It is hoped that these findings will inform both scholars and practitioners, giving both a clearer picture of the impact of multiple downsizings on corporate performance.

Risk of psychological ill health and methods of organisational downsizing: a cross-sectional survey in four European countries

BACKGROUND

The manner in which organizational downsizing is implemented can make a substantial difference as to whether the exposed workers will suffer from psychological ill health. Surprisingly, little research has directly investigated this issue. We examined the likelihood of psychological ill health associated with strategic and reactive downsizing.

METHODS

A cross-sectional survey included 1456 respondents from France, Sweden, Hungary and the United Kingdom: 681 employees in stable workplaces (reference group) and 775 workers from downsized companies. Reactive downsizing was exemplified by the exposures to compulsory redundancies of medium to large scale resulting in job loss or surviving a layoff while staying employed in downsized organizations. The workforce exposed to strategic downsizing was represented by surplus employees who were internally redeployed and supported through their career change process within a policy context of "no compulsory redundancy". Symptoms of anxiety, depression and emotional exhaustion were assessed in telephone interviews with brief subscales from Hospital Anxiety Scale (HADS-A), Hopkins Symptom Checklist (SCL-CD₆) and Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI-GS). Data were analyzed using logistic regression.

RESULTS

We observed no increased risk of psychological ill health in the case of strategic downsizing. The number of significant associations with psychological ill health was the largest for the large-scale reactive downsizing: surviving a layoff was consistently associated with all three outcome measures; returning to work after the job loss experience was related to anxiety and depression, while persons still unemployed at interview had elevated odds of anxiety. After reactive medium-scale downsizing, unemployment at interview was the only exposure associated with anxiety and depression.

CONCLUSIONS

The manner in which organizational downsizing is implemented can be important for the psychological wellbeing of workers. If downsizing is unavoidable, it should be achieved strategically. Greater attention is needed to employment and health policies supporting the workers after reactive downsizing.

Quality of Life and Its Related Factors in Chinese Unemployed People: A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Study

With the global economic crisis and industrial restructuring, the unemployed are suffering from job loss-related stress and loss of income, which is believed to impair their mental and physical health, while coping and self-efficacy could combat the adverse effects of unemployment on health. Thus, this study aims to describe quality of life (QOL) among unemployed Chinese people and explore the associated factors. A cross-sectional study was conducted by convenience sampling, composed of 1825 unemployed people, from January 2011 to September 2011. Questionnaires pertaining to demographic characteristics, the 36-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), the abbreviated version of the Cope Inventory (Brief COPE) and self-efficacy scales were used to collect information from unemployed people in the eastern, central, and western regions of China. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was performed to explore the related factors of QOL. A structural equation model (SEM) was used to test the relations among coping, self-efficacy, and QOL. Mental QOL was significantly lower than physical QOL in Chinese unemployed people. Coping had significant effects on both physical component summary (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS), while self-efficacy played the mediating role in the association between Coping and QOL. Unemployed Chinese people’s mental QOL was disrupted more seriously than their physical QOL. An increase in coping could improve QOL by promoting better management of issues brought about by unemployment. In addition, self-efficacy has the ability to reduce the impact of unemployment on QOL, through the mediating path of coping on QOL. This study highlights the need of coping skills training and self-efficacy enhancement for better management of unemployment in order to improve QOL and well-being.

Depressive symptoms as a cause and effect of job loss in men and women: evidence in the context of organisational downsizing from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health

BACKGROUND

Few studies have examined depression as both a cause and effect of unemployment, but no prior work investigated these relationships in the context of organisational downsizing. We explored whether the exposure to downsizing is associated with subsequent depression (social causation), and whether pre-existing depression increases the risk of being laid off when organisations downsize (health selection).

METHODS

Two successive waves of the nationally representative Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health represented the baseline (2008) and follow-up (2010) of this study. Analyses included 196 workers who lost their jobs through downsizing, 1462 layoff survivors remaining in downsized organisations and 1845 employees of non-downsized workplaces. The main outcomes were: (1) Depressive symptoms at follow-up, assessed with a brief subscale from the Symptom Checklist 90, categorised by severity levels ("major depression", "less severe symptoms" and "no depression") and analysed in relation to earlier downsizing exposure; (2) Job loss in persons with downsizing in relation to earlier depressive symptoms. The associations were assessed by means of multinomial logistic regression.

RESULTS

Job loss consistently predicted subsequent major depression among men and women, with a somewhat greater effect size in men. Surviving a layoff was significantly associated with subsequent major depression in women but not in men. Women with major depression have increased risks of exclusion from employment when organisations downsize, whereas job loss in men was not significantly influenced by their health.

CONCLUSIONS

The evidence from this study suggests that the relative importance of social causation and health selection varies by gender in the context of organisational downsizing. Strategies for handling depression among employees should be sensitive to gender-specific risks during layoffs. Policies preventing social exclusion can be important for female workers at higher risk of depression.

Fear itself: The effects of distressing economic news on birth outcomes

I use new administrative data on mass layoffs and plant closings to study the effects of distressing economic news. Exposure to stressful events during pregnancy can impair fetal development. I find that announcement of impending job losses leads to a transient decrease in the mean birth weight within the firm's county one to four months before the job losses. A loss of 500 jobs corresponds roughly to a decrease of 15-20g and 16 percent greater risk of low birth weight. Layoffs announced late in pregnancy are most strongly linked to decreased birth outcomes.

Organizational downsizing and depressive symptoms in the European recession: the experience of workers in France, Hungary, Sweden and the United kingdom

Background

Organizational downsizing has become highly common during the global recession of the late 2000s with severe repercussions on employment. We examine whether the severity of the downsizing process is associated with a greater likelihood of depressive symptoms among displaced workers, internally redeployed workers and lay-off survivors.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey involving telephone interviews was carried out in France, Hungary, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The study analyzes data from 758 workers affected by medium- and large-scale downsizing, using multiple logistic regression.

Main Results

Both unemployment and surviving layoffs were significantly associated with depressive symptoms, as compared to reemployment, but the perceived procedural justice of a socially responsible downsizing process considerably mitigated the odds of symptoms. Perception of high versus low justice was assessed along several downsizing dimensions. In the overall sample, chances to have depressive symptoms were significantly reduced if respondents perceived the process as transparent and understandable, fair and unbiased, well planned and democratic; if they trusted the employer’s veracity and agreed with the necessity for downsizing. The burden of symptoms was significantly greater if the process was perceived to be chaotic. We further tested whether perceived justice differently affects the likelihood of depressive symptoms among distinct groups of workers. Findings were that the odds of symptoms largely followed the same patterns of effects across all groups of workers. Redeploying and supporting surplus employees through the career change process–rather than forcing them to become unemployed–makes a substantial difference as to whether they will suffer from depressive symptoms.

Conclusions

While depressive symptoms affect both unemployed and survivors, a just and socially responsible downsizing process is important for the emotional health of workers.

Examining Burnout and Engagement in Layoff Survivors

This study investigates burnout and work engagement in layoff survivors. Layoff survivors are defined as individuals who remain working at organizations that have recently had layoffs. Job demands (job insecurity and work overload) and job and personal resources (social support, optimism, career adaptability, and career management self-efficacy) are examined as predictors of burnout and engagement. The sample consists of 203 adults currently working at organizations that downsized within the past year. As hypothesized, job demands had positive relationships with burnout, while social support, optimism, and career management self-efficacy had positive relationships with engagement. Contrary to hypotheses, career adaptability was not positively related to engagement. Engagement also mediated the relationships between several resources and burnout. This study makes a unique contribution to the literature, as little research has examined personal strengths of layoff survivors, in addition to job characteristics.

Dismissals - a major concern, but only one among others?

The Finnish forest industry has undergone extensive transition in recent years. This study investigates the effect of restructuring on the well-being of blue-collar employees who continued working in the organization after the changes. All six factories selected for the study were in the process of restructuring between baseline and the follow-up survey. The factories were grouped according to personnel reduction (dismissals): Change group 1 - no dismissals; and Change group 2 - dismissals. The majority of the analyses were carried out using longitudinal data (n=382). The associations between the changes in personnel and functional and psychological well-being were analysed using ANCOVA (adjusted for age, gender, education, and outcome at baseline). In both change groups the level of functional well-being improved after restructuring, but the level of psychological well-being decreased. The content of the changes, regardless of whether they involved personnel dismissals, did not affect the magnitude of the decrease in psychological well-being. It seems that the effect of restructuring on the psychological well-being of employees working in the restructuring organization is considerable, even when no dismissals are involved. The impact of change on functional well-being seems to be different.

Enterprise restructuring and the health of employees: a cohort study

OBJECTIVE

To examine the influence of enterprise restructuring on general health and emotional exhaustion, and to investigate which factors explain the relation between restructuring and these outcomes.

METHODS

Longitudinal data of the Netherlands Working Conditions Cohort Study were used. At baseline and after 12 months, 9076 employees filled out a questionnaire. Logistic regression analysis was applied.

RESULTS

Prolonged exposure to restructuring increased the likelihood of poor general health, and its influence was partly explained by job insecurity. Emotional exhaustion was more likely among employees that experienced prolonged exposure to restructuring or restructuring during the past year. Job insecurity explained the influence of prolonged restructuring, together with job demands and supervisor's support.

CONCLUSIONS

Prolonged exposure to restructuring adversely affects general health and emotional exhaustion in employees, and its influence seems to be explained by job insecurity.

Social factors and mental health symptoms among women who have experienced involuntary job loss

The growing proportion of women in the labor force and the current economic crisis has made women a target population for job loss. In that situation, they are likely to experience recurrent layoffs, which force them to cope with multiple job loss and with unemployment. The present study aimed to examine sociodemographic factors that help women succeed in coping with single or multiple experiences of job loss, and that even enhance their self-efficacy in returning to work. The population of participants consisted of 134 Israeli women aged 30-45 who had been laid off. The findings indicate that the women who had experienced multiple job loss expressed a stronger desire to return to work than did those who had been laid off only once. Married women showed a greater tendency to become accustomed to stress after being laid off than did never-married women. However, even though multiple job loss might be a forced solution to home-work conflict, never-married women were found to be at risk for distress responses after being laid off. There is a need to develop responses for women who are at risk for multiple job loss, and to enhance employers' awareness of the situation faced by women who are laid off.

The moderating role of perceived organisational support in the relationship between workplace bullying and turnover intention across sectors in South Africa

Orientation: Because workplace bullying has detrimental consequences on the profitability, work quality and turnover intention of organisations, this phenomenon should be addressed. Perceived Organisational Support (POS) was explored since factors such as role clarity, job information, participation in decision-making, colleague support and supervisory relationships might act as buffers against workplace bullying, subsequently influencing the turnover intention of the organisation.Research purpose: To investigate the role of POS as moderator in the relationship between workplace bullying and turnover intention across sectors in South Africa.Motivation for the study: Workplace bullying is a worldwide concern and it is unclear whether perceived organisational support moderates the relationship between workplace bullying and turnover intention.Research design, approach and method: A cross-sectional survey approach with a quantitative research design was used (N = 13 911). The South African Employee Health and Wellness Survey (SAEHWS) was administered to explore the experiences of bullying behaviour, POS and turnover intention.Main findings: Bullying by superiors is more prevalent than bullying by colleagues. A positive relationship exists between workplace bullying and turnover intention. Role clarity, participation in decision-making and supervisory relationship moderates the relationship between bullying by superiors and turnover intention.Practical/managerial implications: This study creates an awareness of the prevalence of workplace bullying in the South African context so that sufficient counteraction can be encouraged.Contribution/value-add: This study contributes to the limited research regarding workplace bullying in the South African context by quantifying the relationships between workplace bullying POS and turnover intention.

Occupational musculoskeletal and mental health: Significance of rationalization and opportunities to create sustainable production systems - A systematic review

This literature review aims to identify occupational musculoskeletal and mental health effects of production system rationalization as well as organizational-level measures that may improve health outcome ("modifiers" in this review). A short review of the effect of ergonomic interventions is included as background and rationalization is discussed as a theoretical concept. Indicator variables for occupational musculoskeletal and mental health and related risk factors are presented. Variables with a generalized format were allowed in the literature searches (e.g., job satisfaction and absenteeism were accepted as risk factor and health indicator, respectively), suitable for the research fields of work sociology, organization science, human resource management (HRM) and economics research. One hundred and sixty-two studies of rationalization effects on health and risk factors and 72 organization-level modifier results were accepted into the final database. Entries were sorted by rationalization strategy and work life sector, and trends in outcome (positive, mixed, no effect, or negative effect on health and risk factors) were determined. Rationalizations have a dominant negative effect on health and risk factors (57% negative, 19% positive); the most negative effects were found for downsizing and restructuring rationalizations in general (71 studies negative, 13 positive) and for the health care sector in particular (36 studies negative, 2 positive). The rationalization strategy High Performance Work System (HPWS) was associated with the highest fraction positive outcome studies (6 of 10 studies). Other rationalization strategies (lean practices, parallel vs. serial production and mechanization level) reported intermediate results, in part dependent on work life sector, but also on the year when studies were carried out. Worker participation, resonant management style, information, support, group autonomy and procedural justice were modifiers with favourable influence on outcome. It is concluded that production system rationalization represents a pervasive work life intervention without a primary occupational health focus. It has considerable and mostly negative influence on worker health, but this can be reduced by attention to modifiers. The results create a basis for new priorities in ergonomic intervention research.

Layoff Agency

The current downsizing literature has neglected the cognitions and behaviors of layoff agents. In this article, layoff agents are defined as employees who assist in the implementation of layoffs in their employing organizations. The article develops a theoretical framework that focuses on the cognitions and perceptions of those individuals. This framework suggests that layoff agents have the potential to experience cognitive dissonance as a result of their layoff agency activities, and under some conditions they will seek to reduce that dissonance by altering their perceptions of organizational downsizing. The framework specifies variables that moderate the relationship between layoff agency and cognitive dissonance and also variables that moderate the relationship between layoff agency—induced cognitive dissonance and agent perceptions of organizational downsizing. The moderating effects of these variables are captured in a set of propositions suitable for testing in future empirical research on the psychology of layoff agents.

Organisational downsizing and work stress: testing synergistic health effects in employed men and women

STUDY OBJECTIVE

To systematically study the separate and combined effects of organisational downsizing and work related stress on a measure of health in "survivors of layoffs".

DESIGN

Using Rothman's approach, separate and combined effects of the two exposures in estimating the risk of poor self rated health (work related symptoms) are analysed in a large sample of male and female employees.

SETTING

0.1% cross sectional sample of the German working population.

PARTICIPANTS

12 240 men and 10 319 women, aged 16 to 59 years, surveyed in 1998-1999.

MAIN RESULTS

Compared with the reference group, the group of participants who were simultaneously exposed to downsizing and work related stress (effort-reward imbalance) exhibited odds ratios (OR) of three or more work related symptoms that were by far higher (OR 4.41 in men and OR 5.37 in women) than those associated with single exposures. Altogether 21% (men) and 31% (women) of the effect size of the combined exposure was attributable to synergistic interaction.

CONCLUSION

Although reduced health associated with organisational downsizing is partly attributable to an increase in work related stress these findings show an additional synergy effect produced by the combined exposure to both conditions.