The moderating role of employability in the association between job insecurity and exit, voice, loyalty and neglect

TLDR

Exit, voice, loyalty, or neglect as employee responses to organizations in decline have been investigated in several studies. The aim of the present study is to investigate whether employability moderates the effects of job insecurity on exit, voice, loyalty and neglect. The study found that high employability gives workers greater control over their careers, yet job insecurity still increases exit and reduces voice and loyalty, with these effects amplified among employable employees, suggesting employability mainly drives vocational mobility rather than voice.

Abstract

Exit, voice, loyalty, or neglect as employee responses to organizations in decline have been investigated in several studies. The aim of the present study is to investigate whether employability moderates the effects of job insecurity on exit, voice, loyalty and neglect. The results, based on questionnaire data from white-collar workers in Sweden ( N = 725), indicate that individuals who are high in employability may have greater opportunities for gaining control over their working life. Job insecurity was found to be associated with increased exit as well as with decreased voice and loyalty, although these effects were stronger among individuals who perceived themselves to be employable. Thus, instead of making employees more likely to use voice in times of uncertainty, employability appears to primarily induce vocational mobility.