Job Security

Job Security

Job security is defined as the assurance in an employee’s job continuity due to the general economic conditions in the country (James, 2012). It is concerned with the possibility or probability of an individual keeping his/her job (Adebayo & Lucky, 2012). It deals with the chances of employees keeping their jobs in order not be unemployed (Simon, 2011). Jobs which are not backed by indefinite contract or cannot be guaranteed for reasonable period are deemed to lack job security. It is also seen as the employees free from the fear of being dismissed from his/her present employment or job loss.

Some professions and employment activities have greater job security than others. Job security is an employee's assurance or confidence that they will keep their current job for a longer period as they so wish (Mohammad, 2011).

According to Rahimi (2011) quite a number of factors such as employment contract, collective bargaining agreement, labor legislation and personal factors such as education, work experience, job functional area, work industry, work location, etc., play an important role in determining the need for an individual's services and impacts their personal job security. In another extreme, essential or necessary skills and past experience required by the employers and subject to the current economic condition and business environment could also guarantee individual’s job security (Benjamin, 2012).

Generally, certain type of jobs and industry jobs has been perceived to have high job security. For instance, government jobs, educational jobs, healthcare jobs and law enforcement jobs are deemed to be very secure while on the other hand, jobs in the private sector are widely perceived to offer lower job security which may also be according to industry, location, occupation and other factors (Mohammad, 2011). However, in the final analysis, Adebayo & Lucky (2012) noted that people's job security eventually depends on whether they are employable or not and if businesses have a need for their skills or not. Although, employment laws can offer some relief against unemployment risk, they only have a marginal contribution to the job security of individuals. The fact remains that; individuals need to have the right skill set to have good job security (Lucky, 2012) concluded.

Job Security is an assurance that an individual will keep his or her job without the risk of becoming unemployed. She will have continuity in employment and it may be from the terms of a contract of employment, collective bargaining agreement, or labor legislation that prevents arbitrary termination. Lack of job security refers to a situation where a person with a job would have a high chance of becoming unemployed (Simon, 2011).

Job security may depend on economy, prevailing business conditions, and the individual's personal capacity. Employees have more job security in times of economic expansion and less in times of a recession. Normally, government jobs and jobs in education, healthcare and law enforcement are considered very secure. Private sector jobs are generally believed to offer lower job security (Simon, 2011).