The Relationship between Qualitative Job Insecurity and Meaningfulness at Work: The Mediating Effect of Job Crafting

Abstract

In today’s cost-of-living crisis and rapidly changing modern organisational world (Patrick & Pybus, 2022), the present study aimed to explore the relationship between qualitative job insecurity (QJI), job crafting, and meaningfulness at work. Drawing upon the revised Job Demands-Resources model (JD-R), it was expected that QJI would be negatively related with meaningfulness at work and that job crafting would mediate the relationship between those two variables. The final sample of the study consisted of 249 employees from various organisations internationally, who participated in a quantitative cross-sectional research design. To test the hypotheses, two regression analyses were conducted utilising the SPSS system. As expected, the results revealed a negative relationship between QJI and meaningfulness at work. Regarding the mediating hypothesis, this was partially confirmed indicating that job crafting decreases the negative impact of QJI on meaningfulness at work. Despite the limitations of this study, the findings are in line with the JD-R model and shed new light to the empirical evidence around the study variables. Practical organisational implications aiming at the prevention of QJI, through decision-involvement and employee growth trainings, along with the creation of resourceful job crafting organisational environments are highlighted.