Psychological responses to lay-off in contemporary China

Wang, Bingxin, and Greenwood, Kenneth Mark (2015) Psychological responses to lay-off in contemporary China. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 26 (3). pp. 361-380.

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Abstract

This paper explores the psychological responses to lay-off in contemporary China during its economic reform period. The paper adopts both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. A total of 287 laid-off workers from state-owned enterprises were surveyed and 26 of them were interviewed in China. The survey data were analysed using statistical methods to detect relationships between variables, and the interview data were processed by means of constructing categories of description and illustrated through the voices of the laid-off workers. This research overturns the conventional wisdom of the three-stage theory, 'shock, distress and fatalism', developed by Western scholars. It demonstrates that the psychological responses of the laid-off workers are highly variable, and culturally and institutionally specific. The implications are both profound and able to underpin a far more constructive and fruitful programme for retraining unemployed workers in China and other developing countries and integrating them into the workforce.

Item ID: 40588
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 1466-4399
Keywords: China, laid-off workers, psychological response, state-owned enterprises (SOEs), unemployed workers
Date Deposited: 30 Sep 2015 04:32
FoR Codes: 15 COMMERCE, MANAGEMENT, TOURISM AND SERVICES > 1502 Banking, Finance and Investment > 150205 Investment and Risk Management @ 50%
17 PSYCHOLOGY AND COGNITIVE SCIENCES > 1701 Psychology > 170107 Industrial and Organisational Psychology @ 50%
SEO Codes: 91 ECONOMIC FRAMEWORK > 9104 Management and Productivity > 910401 Industrial Relations @ 100%
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