The health effects of work-related insecurity experiences across the occupational hierarchy

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My background in the history of labor relations has caused me to watch with alarm the stark changes in the nature of employment that have rolled-back much of the progress that workers had made in securing concessions from employers following WWII. Indeed, we have moved to a 'gig' economy wherein a growing proportion of workers lack job and income security and, in turn, the ability to plan their career and financial futures. Through my research, my goal has been to demonstrate how, in the contemporary labor-market, the experience of work-related insecurity affects all workers to some degree, including those whose jobs are nominally secure (i.e., full-time, full-year and non-term). Changes in the political economy of work associated with technological change and globalization have given rise to losses in key job and income security provisions that were once considered 'standard' for workers in the mainstream labor-market. Losses in wage sufficiency, regular pay raises, income-security measures like retirement pensions and health care plans, opportunities for job or career-advancement, and increasing pressure to work more hours for the same salary (i.e., unpaid overtime work) have each contributed to a growing insecurity among workers who have become less able to make long-term plans around career, finances and family. The call to action for employers and policy-makers in this work is the evidence that work-related insecurity is adversely affecting workers' health, and hence, represents a non-sustainable state of affairs in an increasingly competitive global economy.

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