Examining white‐collar downsizing as a cause of change in the psychological contract

Abstract

The “old” psychological contract, with its emphasis on employment security, has been held to have been violated because of extensive downsizing among white‐collar employees from the late 1980s and early 1990s. This proposition is tested here using multivariate analysis based on a large‐scale, nationally representative dataset for five leading industries in the UK manufacturing sector for the years 1978‐1995. The results obtained provide little real support for this hypothesis, thus casting doubt on its role in having produced a major change in the psychological contract.