COPING WITH JOB INSECURITY: NARRATIVES OF CONTINGENT WORKERS

Abstract This study sought to explore coping strategies used by contingent workers at a multinational firm in Zimbabwe to deal with job insecurity. Ten research participants, who had worked for the case multinational firm in Zimbabwe for at least five months, were interviewed using face-to-face semi-structured interviews. The study found that contingent workers at the case multinational firm in Zimbabwe use several strategies to deal with job insecurity. The three major coping strategies that they use are organizational citizenship behaviour, deviant work behaviours and job search. Only a few research participants at the case multinational firm in Zimbabwe indicated that they utilize impression management techniques to deal with job insecurity. The current study recommends that contingent workers at the case organisation should be aware that some of the coping mechanisms that they use to deal with job insecurity are gross misconducts, which warrant direct dismissal. The study also recommends that managers at the case multinational firm in Zimbabwe should be aware of the coping mechanisms that contingent workers use to deal with job insecurity, and that they should establish intervention strategies that reduce job insecurity and improve worker employability. JEL Classification: J22, L61, M54, O19.