Job insecurity, organisational commitment and work engagement among staff in an open distance learning institution

Abstract

The objective of this study was to explore the relationship between job insecurity, organisational commitment and work engagement among staff in an open distance learning institution. The research was conducted through computer-aided telephone interviews and selfcompletion techniques. A cross-sectional survey design was conducted among 260 employees in an open distance learning institution. The measuring instruments included the job insecurity scale, organisational commitment questionnaire and Utrecht Work Engagement Scale. The results demonstrated statistically significant relationships between job insecurity and organisational commitment, and between job insecurity and work engagement. A practically significant relationship between variables was also determined; however, the effect was too small to yield a practically significant relationship between the variables. The results revealed that a component of job insecurity (likelihood of loss of job features), together with a component of work engagement (vigour), explains 25% of the total variation of organisational commitment and that the remaining 75% was attributed to factors beyond the scope of this study. This study demonstrated that employees would not always reduce their commitment and work effort when confronted with uncertainty as suggested by several studies. Nevertheless, it could be assumed that the survey participants fear being unemployed and feel trapped because of a lack of alternative employment opportunities.

Key words: vigour, dedication, absorption, affective, continuance, normative, perceived powerlessness