Towards a research agenda for job insecurity in South Africa

25 May 2010

The general objective of this research was to develop a research agenda for job insecurity in South African organisations, for which little published research exists. This agenda was developed by conceptualising and defining job insecurity, determining which valid and reliable measuring instruments of job insecurity exist, investigating trends in South African research and finally incorporating the views of South African managers. A qualitative, descriptive research design was followed to perform content analysis and an extensive literature review. Results were enhanced with content analysis of semi-structured interviews with managers from different organisations (N = 24). Results were integrated into a proposed model for job insecurity in order to serve as a guideline for future research and as a tool for managers to recognise, prevent and manage job insecurity.