Insecure yet Resourceful: Psychological Capital Mitigates the Negative Effects of Employees’ Career Insecurity on Their Career Satisfaction

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased employee career concerns (i.e., insecurity), and many people face difficulties with their current jobs. In addition, employees have struggled with their health due to COVID-19. Based on the psychological capital (PsyCap) and the conservation of resource theories, we suggest that personal resources, such as resilience, can mitigate the adverse effects of employee career insecurity on their career-related outcomes, such as career satisfaction, as well as on their health. In a German-speaking sample (N = 185) and a two-wave design, we investigated the role of employees’ career insecurity on their career satisfaction. We employed PsyCap as a moderator in these relationships. Results showed a negative relationship between career insecurity and career satisfaction. In addition, moderation analyses revealed that PsyCap significantly moderates the effects of career insecurity on employee career satisfaction. Specifically, for high PsyCap the effect of career insecurity on employee career satisfaction does not hold significant, while it does for low PsyCap, showing that PsyCap can mitigate the negative effects of career insecurity on employee career satisfaction. With a robust personal construct in career research, our study contributes to this field by investigating the role of PsyCap for employee careers, especially in a crisis context (i.e., COVID-19). We discuss implications for employees and organizations.