Technology Advancements and Employees’ Qualitative Job Insecurity in the Republic of Korea: Does Training Help? Employer-Provided vs. Self-Paid Training

Abstract

While technological advancements have proliferated in our daily lives, they also pose threats to the job security of employees. Despite these growing concerns about technology-related job insecurity, little research has been carried out on the antecedents and outcomes of tech-related job insecurity. Using a cross-sectional, nationally representative survey sample of 28,989 Korean workers drawn from the Korean Working Conditions Survey, we examined the impacts of technology advancements on employee perceptions of technology-related qualitative job insecurity (i.e., perceived technology-related threat to the continued existence of valued job features) and subsequent effects on employees’ work (i.e., work engagement, job satisfaction), health (i.e., sleep), and life (i.e., work-to-family conflict) outcomes. Furthermore, we investigated the extent to which employer-provided (versus self-funded) training buffers the adverse impacts of technology advancements and associated job insecurity. The path analysis results showed more technology changes were associated with higher job insecurity, which subsequently related to adverse outcomes. While employer-provided training helped workers to reduce the negative impacts of tech changes on job insecurity, workers who paid for their training reported more adverse outcomes in face of job insecurity. We discuss these results in light of the job demands–resources theory and practical implications to buffer the adverse impacts of technology advancements.