Individual Responses to Job Loss: Empirical Findings from Two Field Studies

Abstract

This research examined the responses and coping strategies that laid-off employees use to deal with job loss. Data were gathered from two samples: (1) 198 former industrial workers who lost their jobs through a plant closing, and (2) 163 managerial, clerical, and technical employees who lost their jobs after the space-shuttle Challenger disaster. Financial distress and attachment to the previous job were the strongest predictors of negative reactions to job loss. In general, the findings regarding coping strategies, e.g., job search and retraining, were mixed: some coping strategies were positively related to reemployment although there were no strong predictors of individual use of such strategies. For both samples, there were no consistent findings concerning the effects of company assistance programs or the length of time spent out of work. The implications of these results for future research, theory, and practice are discussed.