Employee Resilience Linking Job Insecurity and Perceived Organizational Support to Work Engagement

Abstract

Rising layoffs can intensify uncertainty among employees who remain in organizations, yet the pathway from job insecurity to work engagement is not always direct. This study examines whether employee resilience transmits the effects of job insecurity and perceived organizational support to work engagement among private-sector employees in Jabodetabek. A quantitative explanatory, cross-sectional survey was conducted among full-time employees in manufacturing and service organizations with at least one year of organizational tenure. Of 428 responses collected, 407 met the screening and data-quality criteria. Data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. Job insecurity reduced employee resilience (coefficient = -0.157) but did not have a significant direct effect on work engagement (coefficient = -0.052; p = 0.119). Perceived organizational support strongly increased employee resilience (coefficient = 0.594) and directly increased work engagement (coefficient = 0.301), while employee resilience increased work engagement (coefficient = 0.499). Employee resilience produced indirect-only mediation between job insecurity and work engagement and complementary mediation between perceived organizational support and work engagement. The model explained 41.3% of employee resilience and 55.0% of work engagement. The findings show that job insecurity undermines engagement mainly by weakening adaptive capacity, whereas organizational support sustains engagement both directly and by building resilience. Organizations undergoing change should combine transparent communication, visible support, and work-embedded resilience development.