Type of Job Loss and its Impact on Decision Control, Mastery, and Depression: Comparison of Employee and Company-Stated Reasons

In the present study, we explore the similarity between company versus self-reported reasons for job loss. We also examine the degree of perceived control employees report over the job loss, looking to see if either job loss type or perceived control is related to subsequent levels of mastery and depression. As part of a larger study, 2279 of 3700 (61%) employees responded to a survey at Time 1; of these participants, 310 lost their jobs before the second data collection some two and one half years later and were mailed a second survey asking them to answer questions on mastery, depression, and perceived control over the decision to leave the company, and to label or categorize the type of job loss they experienced. Comparison of self-versus company-reported reasons for the job loss from the 171 usable surveys (55% response rate) revealed relatively good agreement between company and personal data sources. Roughly one third of the former employees, however, categorized the job loss in more than one way. There was also a very strong tendency for employees to report that they had very high control over the decision to leave the company, and nearly all employees reported improvements to their levels of mastery and depression since leaving the company; exceptions to this pattern were observed for those losing their jobs due to “rule violation” or “involuntary layoff.” Control over the job loss was related to Time 2 levels of mastery and depression, but only weakly related to changes in these outcomes moving from Time 1 to Time 2.