Lay off: The experience of women and men in Iceland's financial sector

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To analyze gender differences in levels of psychological distress, financial strain, lay off experiences and job search activity among unemployed and re-employed individuals who were laid-off due to the collapse of the financial sector in Iceland in 2008.

PARTICIPANTS: The study is based on questionnaires distributed to 759 former financial sector employees; 426 responses were received giving a 62.6% response rate.

METHODS: The groups of unemployed and re-employed woman and men are compared using separate multivariate binary models to control for mediating factors.

RESULTS: The analysis reveals gender differences in demographic factors and jobs held prior to lay-off. More women than men were psychologically or finically distressed and claimed being shocked by the lay-off. A higher proportion of men than women were re-employed at the time of this study. The main difference between those re-employed and unemployed was lower financial strain among those re-employed for both men and women in this sample.

CONCLUSION: The study does not support the traditional view of men having more difficulties in the lay-off process than women. This calls for a rethinking regarding gender in lay-off and unemployment. A gender-based analysis is needed when considering the ramifications of losing a job and job search activity in the lay-off process.