The Fear of Covid-19 and Perceived Employability Effect on Emotional Exhaustion and Work Engagement: The Mediating Role of Job Insecurity

Putu Parama Cinthya Dewi, Fanny Martdianty

Abstract

Frontline workers are one of the jobs affected due to Covid-19. Covid-19 events can have negative and positive consequences for frontline workers. This study aims to see how fear of covid affects employee emotional exhaustion during a pandemic. Based on the conservation of resources theory, fear of covid-19 can cause frontline workers to experience emotional exhaustion. In addition, during a pandemic, employees can feel high job insecurity, resulting in low work engagement in the company where employees work. The method used in this research is quantitative. Data analysis was performed on 259 company employees who worked as frontline workers using the Structural Equation Modeling technique. The results of the analysis show that fear of covid-19 has a positive effect on job insecurity, and job insecurity has a significant positive effect on emotional exhaustion. In addition, perceived employability has a positive and significant effect on job insecurity and a significant positive effect on work engagement. It is essential for companies to pay attention so that employees do not have high job insecurity and high emotional exhaustion and can create employee work engagement by conducting various kinds of training and health education to increase engagement and reduce employee fear of Covid.

Keywords

emotional exhaustion; fear of COVID-19; frontline workers; job insecurity; perceived employability.

Full Text:

PDF

References

Abbas, M., Malik, M., & Sarwat, N. (2021). Consequences of Job Insecurity for Hospitality Workers Amid COVID-19 Pandemic: Does Social Support Help? Journal of Hospitality Marketing and Management, 30(8), 957–981.

Ahorsu, D. K., Lin, C. Y., Imani, V., Saffari, M., Griffiths, M. D., & Pakpour, A. H. (2022). The Fear of COVID-19 Scale: Development and Initial Validation. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 20(3), 1537–1545.

Ali, Z., Sun, H., & Ali, M. (2017). The Impact of Managerial and Adaptive Capabilities to Stimulate Organizational Innovation in Smes: a Complementary PLS-SEM Approach. Sustainability (Switzerland), 9(12).

Alpler, N. N., & Arasli, H. (2020). Can Hindrance Stressors Change the Nature of Perceived Employability? an Empirical Study in the Hotel Industry. Sustainability (Switzerland), 12(24), 1–13.

Bakker, A. B. (2017). Strategic and Proactive Approaches to Work Engagement. Organizational Dynamics, 46(2), 67–75.

Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The Moderator-Mediator Variable Distinction in Social Psychological Research: Conceptual, Strategic, and Statistical Considerations. In Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 51(6). 271.

Chao, C. M. (2019). Factors Determining the Behavioral Intention to Use Mobile Learning: an Application and Extension of the UTAUT Model. Frontiers in Psychology, 10(July).

Chatterjee, S., Chaudhuri, R., & Vrontis, D. (2022). Does Remote Work Flexibility Enhance Organization Performance? Moderating Role of Organization Policy and Top Management Support. Journal of Business Research, 139, 1501–1512.

Chen, H., & Eyoun, K. (2021). Do Mindfulness and Perceived Organizational Support Work? Fear of COVID-19 on Restaurant Frontline Employees’ Job Insecurity and Emotional Exhaustion. International Jour- nal of Hospitality Management, 94.

De Cuyper, N., Bernhard-Oettel, C., Berntson, E., De Witte, H., & Alarco, B. (2008). Employability and Employees’ Well-Being: Mediation by Job Insecurity. Applied Psychology, 57(3), 488–509.

De Witte, H., & Näswall, K. (2003). “Objective” vs “Subjective” Job Insecurity: Consequences of Temporary Work for Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment in Four European Countries. Economic and Industrial Democracy, 24(2), 149–188.

Debus, M. E., Probst, T. M., König, C. J., & Kleinmann, M. (2012). Catch Me if I fall! Enacted Uncertainty Avoidance and the Social Safety Net as Country-Level Moderators in the Job Insecurity-Job Attitudes Link. Journal of Applied Psychology, 97(3), 690–698.

Dekker, S. W. A., & Schaufeli, W. B. (1995). The Effects of Job Insecurity on Psychological Health and Withdrawal: a Longitudinal Study. Australian Psychologist, 30(1), 57–63.

Demerouti, E., & Bakker, A. B. (2011). The Job Demands? Resources Model: Challenges for Future Research. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 37(2).

Forrier, A., Verbruggen, M., & De Cuyper, N. (2015). Integrating Different Notions of Employability in a Dynamic Chain: the Relationship between Job Transitions, Movement Capital and Perceived Em- ployability. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 89, 56–64.

Ganson, K. T., Tsai, A. C., Weiser, S. D., Benabou, S. E., & Nagata, J. M. (2021). Job Insecurity and Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression Among U.S. Young Adults During COVID-19. Journal of Adolescent Health, 68(1), 53–56.

Goel, M., & Verma, J. P. (2021). Workplace Stress and Coping Mechanism in a Cohort of Indian Service Industry. Asia Pacific Management Review, 26(3), 113–119.

Greenhalgh, L., & Rosenblatt, Z. (1984). Job Insecurity: Toward Conceptual Clarity. Academy of Management Review, 9(3), 438–448.

Guarnaccia, C., Scrima, F., Civilleri, A., & Salerno, L. (2018). The Role of Occupational Self-Efficacy in Mediating the Effect of Job Insecurity on Work Engagement, Satisfaction and General Health. Current Psychology, 37(3), 488–497.

Hobfoll, S. E. (1989). Conservation of Resources a New Attempt at Conceptualizing Stress. Karatepe, O. M. (2013). High-Performance Work Practices, Work Social Support and Their Effects on Job Embeddedness and Turnover Intentions. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 25(6), 903–921.

Karatepe, O. M., & Tekinkus, M. (2006). The Effects of Work-Family Conflict, Emotional Exhaustion, and Intrinsic Motivation on Job Outcomes of Front-Line Employees. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 24(3), 173–193.

Keim, A. C., Landis, R. S., Pierce, C. A., & Earnest, D. R. (2014). Why Do Employees Worry about Their Jobs? a Meta-Analytic Review of Predictors of Job Insecurity. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 19(3), 269–290.

Khudaykulova, M., Yuanqiong, H., & Khudaykulov, A. (2022). Economic Consequences and Implications of the Ukraine- Russia War. The International Journal of Management Science and Business Administration, 8(4), 44–52.

Kinnunen, U., Mäkikangas, A., Mauno, S., De Cuyper, N., & De Witte, H. (2014). Development of Perceived Job Insecurity Across Two Years: Associations with Antecedents and Employee Outcomes. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 19(2), 243–258.

Lechien, J. R., Chiesa-Estomba, C. M., Cabaraux, P., Mat, Q., Huet, K., Harmeg- nies, B., Horoi, M., Le Bon, S. D., Rodri- guez, A., Dequanter, D., Hans, S., Crevier-Buchman, L., Hochet, B., Distinguin, L., Chekkoury-Idrissi, Y., Circiu, M., El Afia, F., Barillari, M. R., Cammaroto, G., & Saussez, S. (2022). Features of Mild-to- Moderate COVID-19 Patients with Dysphonia. Journal of Voice, 36(2), 249–255.

Lee, S. H., & Jeong, D. Y. (2017). Job insecurity and turnover intention: Organizational commitment as mediator. Social Behavior and Personality, 45(4), 529–536.

Lee, Y., Kwon, K., Kim, W., & Cho, D. (2016). Work Engagement and Career: Proposing Research Agendas through a Review of Literature. In Human Resource Development Review, 15(1), 29–54.

Lenzi, M., Santinello, M., Gaboardi, M., Disperati, F., Vieno, A., Calcagnì, A., Green- wood, R. M., Rogowska, A. M., Wolf, J. R., Loubière, S., Beijer, U., Bernad, R., Vargas-Moniz, M. J., Ornelas, J., Spin- newijn, F., & Shinn, M. (2021). Factors Associated with Providers’ Work Engagement and Burnout in Homeless Services: a Cross-national Study. American Journal of Community Psychology, 67(1–2), 220–236.

López, J., Perez-Rojo, G., Noriega, C., Carret- ero, I., Velasco, C., Martinez-Huertas, J. A., López-Frutos, P., & Galarraga, L. (2020). Psychological Well-Being among Older Adults During the COVID-19 Out- break: a Comparative Study of the Young-Old and the Old-Old Adults. International Psychogeriatrics, 32(11), 1365–1370.

Moore, S., Grunberg, L., & Greenberg, E. (2004). Repeated Downsizing Contact: the Effects of Similar and Dissimilar Lay-off Experiences on Work and Well-Being Outcomes. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 9(3), 247–257.

Pakpour, A. H., & Griffiths, M. D. (2020). The Fear of COVID-19 and Its Role in Preventive Behaviours. Journal of Concurrent Disorders, 2(1).

Piccoli, B., & De Witte, H. (2015). Job Insecurity and Emotional Exhaustion: Testing Psychological Contract Breach Versus Distributive Injustice as Indicators of Lack of Reciprocity. Work and Stress, 29(3), 246–263.

Stander, M. W., & Rothmann, S. (2010). Psychological Empowerment, Job Insecurity and Employee Engagement. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 36(1).

Sverke, M., Hellgren, J., & Näswall, K. (2002). No security: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Job Insecurity and Its Consequences. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 7(3), 242–264.

Vander Elst, T., Bosman, J., De Cuyper, N., Stouten, J., & De Witte, H. (2013). Does Positive Affect Buffer the Associations between Job Insecurity and Work Engagement and Psychological Distress? a Test among South African Workers. Applied Psychology, 62(4), 558–570.

Voorhees, C. M., Fombelle, P. W., & Bone, S. A. (2020). Don’t Forget about the Frontline Employee during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Preliminary Insights and a Research Agenda on Market Shocks. Journal of Service Research, 24(4), 396–400.

Wu, J. T., Leung, K., Bushman, M., Kishore, N., Niehus, R., de Salazar, P. M., Cowl- ing, B. J., Lipsitch, M., & Leung, G. M. (2020). Estimating Clinical Severity of COVID-19 From the Transmission Dynamics in Wuhan, China. Nature Medi- cine, 26(4), 506–510.

Zhao, X., Lynch, J. G., & Chen, Q. (2010). Reconsidering Baron and Kenny: Myths and Truths about Mediation Analysis. Journal of Consumer Research, 37(2), 197–206.

Zhou, W., Zhu, Z., & Vredenburgh, D. (2020). Emotional Intelligence, Psychological Safety, and Team Decision Making. Team Performance Management, 26(1–2), 123– 141.


View Counter: Abstract - 260 and PDF - 176

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.