Offshoring, job satisfaction and job insecurity

Abstract

This paper investigates the effects of offshoring on individual job satisfaction and perceived risk of job loss. The authors merge microdata from the German Socio-economic Panel dataset (SOEP) with indicators of insertion in global value chains at the industry level for the period 2000-2013. They test two hypotheses. First, the authors investigate whether workers in industries with higher offshoring intensity report lower job satisfaction and/or are more prone to be unsecure at their jobs. Second, they test whether these effects differ among four categories of collars. Their findings indicate that offshoring is associated with lower job satisfaction. The results are also indicative of some heterogeneity in the offshoring effect, with high skilled white-collar workers being mostly unaffected by offshoring and low skilled blue-collar workers showing the largest negative effects. Discriminating between manufacturing and services activities, the authors find that the extent of heterogeneity and the offshoring effect is relatively larger in manufacturing industries. They also find that the effect of offshoring intensity upon job satisfaction is more negative and significant in periods of economic decline. Finally, the results show that offshoring is not significantly related with job insecurity, a result that applies to all workers' categories. Still, in a period of economic decline job insecurity may increase when the offshoring intensity rises.

Assessing the Nature of Job Satisfaction Level: A Study on Private Bank Employees in Bangladesh

“…Heidarian et al (2015) found female employees had little opportunity to participate in goal setting and decision making. On the other hand, Budría & Baleix (2020); Azad et al, (2011); and Ali and Akhter (2009) found that there is no significant difference between male and female employees' job satisfaction.…”

“…When workers are free to decide how to develop and organize their work, they often feel more satisfied and committed to their job (Islam, 2016). High employee satisfaction will strengthen and support the workforce, make employees more creative and innovative and produce superior performance and productivity in optimal time, diminish absenteeism and turnover intention, reduce accident, stress, and work performance as a whole improves (Budría & Baleix, 2020;Asadullah et al, 2019;Rahman, 2020), thus it increases productivity and profits (Farrell and Stamm, 1988).…”

Information Analysis of Online Collaborative Company Review

“…In his research on employees who work in offshore areas, it is found that working in offshore areas gives employees lower job satisfaction compared to workers that work in the office. The intensity of work in the offshore area negatively impacts job satisfaction among workers (Budría & Baleix, 2020). Within their research on 120 self-financing university professors, there are positive relationships between the ethical climate of certain workplaces and job satisfaction (Kamalaselvi & Mahalakshmi, 2020).…”

Working Conditions in Europe: the Role of Global Value Chains and Advanced Digital Production-Driven Technological Specialisation

“…Intense production for GVCs has raised new concerns about working conditions and the protection of workers' rights (Delautre et al 2021). Yet GVC-focused research has rarely dealt with such aspects of work as health and occupational safety, job satisfaction or job security (Budría and Milgram Baleix 2020;Geishecker 2012). Even if the social consequences of GVCs are analysed, they are mainly quantified in terms of their impact on wages or risk of job displacement (Baumgarten et al 2013;Ebenstein et al 2014;Geishecker et al 2010;Wolszczak-Derlacz 2019, 2020;Shen and Silva 2018;Hummels et al 2018).…”

“…In turn, Lloyd and James (2008) report the positive impact of GVCs on the health and safety of workers employed in the UK food processing industry. Budría and Milgram Baleix (2020) investigate the effects of production fragmentation on individual job satisfaction and perceived risk of job loss among German workers, finding that offshoring is negatively associated with job satisfaction.…”