Social
Job insecurity
A worker's subjective perception of threat to the continuity of their current job, together with a sense of powerlessness to prevent the loss.
Definition
Job insecurity is an employee's perceived powerlessness to maintain desired continuity in a threatened job situation (Greenhalgh and Rosenblatt, 1984). Researchers distinguish quantitative insecurity (fear of losing the job itself) from qualitative insecurity (fear of losing valued job features such as pay, hours or autonomy), and cognitive expectations of loss from affective worry about it.
References
Core definitions, quantitative/qualitative distinction, subjective and anticipatory nature
Foundational definition
Overview
What it means
Unlike actual dismissal, job insecurity is anticipatory and subjective: the same objective situation (falling orders, restructuring, automation) can leave one worker anxious and another unmoved.
Because the outcome is uncertain, the employee cannot take effective action, which makes it a chronic psychosocial stressor linked to reduced job satisfaction, commitment, mental and physical health, and higher turnover intention.
How it is used
The concept is used in occupational health research, decent-work monitoring, human-capital and "S"-pillar ESG assessment, and in analysing the workforce impacts of economic transitions — including just-transition planning for workers in declining carbon-intensive industries.
Why it matters
Persistent job insecurity undermines wellbeing and productivity, and unmanaged insecurity during industrial transitions erodes public support for the transition itself.
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