The Perception of Job Insecurity in France: Between Individual Determinants and Managerial Practices

Abstract

[eng] Since the crisis, to what extent is the perception of the risk of job loss affected by the nature of the work environment, the employer’s human resources management policy and its economic situation – or what employees know or perceive about it? Understanding what determines the perception of job insecurity is still rarely the subject of research by labour econo­mists, even though this perception has proven effects, particularly on labour market behaviour and employee health. The analysis is conducted for France, using linked employee‑employer data from the REPONSE 2011 survey. A multilevel model with a random constant is estimated after transforming the reported risk of job loss variable into a continuous “pseudo” variable of perceived insecurity. We show that managerial practices based on communication, promoting discussions between employees and management, as well as employee profit‑sharing schemes or incentive practices, appear to reduce the perception of job insecurity.