How Is Job Insecurity Related to Workers’ Work–Family Conflict during the Pandemic? The Mediating Role of Working Excessively and Techno-Overload

Abstract

The current labor market is characterized by drastic changes linked to the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) and post-COVID-19 transformations, which have decreased job security and job stability. As a result, the feeling of losing one’s job has become even more common among European workers. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether and how job insecurity would be related to work–family conflict during the pandemic. Online self-report questionnaires assessing job insecurity, working excessively, techno-overload, and work-to-family conflict were completed by 266 workers from Italy. Descriptive analyses, confirmatory factor analyses, and structural equation mediation models were conducted. Job insecurity was positively associated with work-to-family conflict, both directly and indirectly, as mediated by techno-overload and a tendency to work excessively. This study advances the literature, as it is the first to identify techno-overload and working excessively as parallel psychological mechanisms linking job insecurity to work–family conflict among Italian workers during the pandemic. Workers could benefit from technological workload monitoring programs, techno effectiveness, and time management training programs. Companies could also consider implementing family-friendly and digital disconnection practices.

Keywords

• job insecurity
• technostress
• work–family conflict
• working excessively
• pandemic