Moving from job loss to career management: The past, present, and future of involuntary job loss research

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Abstract

Job loss continues to be a pervasive problem, affecting large numbers of workers each year. The research of job loss has evolved from the early, descriptive studies that attempted to understand what the loss of work meant for individuals to a more complex understanding of what individuals do to attempt to manage the job loss and identification of the factors that predispose them to be able to do this managing. From this research, we know that job loss has negative consequences for most, but not all, individuals, that for some individuals having a bad job is better than having no job, and individuals who are more resilient and have better coping skills have better outcomes following the experience. There are, however, many questions yet to be answered, especially in light of the often confusing and sometimes contradictory results of past studies. This review traces the research of job loss from the early exploratory studies through the development of complex models focused around stress, appraisal, and coping and on to the current focus on reemployment quality, underemployment, career exploration and planning, and employability. The article concludes with directions for future theoretical and empirical research, for design of outplacement and other organizational programs, and for policy decisions.

Section snippets

Introduction to job loss and job loss research

Job loss continues to be a pervasive issue for millions of workers around the globe. In the “new normal” economy, many individuals can expect to lose a job through a downsizing, company closure, or restructuring, and expect to be unemployed for a longer period of time (Censky, 2011). Research has documented the negative impact of the experience and the factors that lead to impairments in well-being. Research also has identified coping strategies and other variables that position individuals

Understanding the meaning of work

Any conversation about unemployment is inherently a conversation about the absence of work and the meaning of work. In fact, much of the early research of job loss in the 20th century focused on understanding what the absence of work meant for individuals who involuntarily lost their jobs (e.g., Fryer and Payne, 1986, Jahoda, 1981, Warr, 1987).

Fryer and Payne (1986) provide more detail for the reader interested in learning about the early job loss research. In general, early work viewed

Conceptual, integrative models of stress, appraisal, and coping with job loss

In the 1980s and 1990s, the rates of job loss increased significantly with larger numbers of educated workers experiencing job loss than had been the case in earlier large scale downsizings and company closures (Farber, 1997). During this era, the psychological contract between workers and employers became a thing of the past (Rousseau, 1989).

Research during this time frequently drew from Lazarus and Folkman's (1984) stress, appraisal, and coping framework (e.g., Hamilton et al., 1993, Kinicki

Making meaning of job loss research results

Research testing the models discussed and related research provides validating and new information about variables that impact the job loss experience, including the moderators and mediators of relationships (e.g., Kinicki et al., 2000, Leana and Feldman, 1990, Wanberg et al., 2012). Some studies have involved randomized field experiments (Caplan et al., 1989, Vinokur et al., 2000), examined the effects of interventions designed to offset the negative impact of job loss (e.g., Audhoe et al.,

Future research

Drawing from the collective and growing body of knowledge about job loss, the next sections offer directions for future theoretical and empirical research in general as well as for research related to outplacement and other organizations, and research to inform policy decisions.

Conclusion

Decades of research of job loss have provided some answers but also raised many questions about the impact of the event on individuals. The earliest recorded research focused on identifying the impact on the individual of being involuntarily unemployed. The development and testing of models and other theoretical frameworks designed to make sense of the existing research followed. A major focus of this research was on understanding how individuals appraise and cope with the stress of losing a

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