The purpose of this research was to examine the relationships between supervisor- and customer-initiated psychological aggression and vigor across time, and to determine the mediating role of job stress in these relationships. We also investigated the potential for differential impacts of supervisor and customer aggression on our outcome variables. A two-wave longitudinal study was conducted with a time lag of 6 months. The study sample consisted of 215 branch office employees of five large commercial banks situated in Islamabad, Pakistan. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire and analyzed using covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM). It was found that Time 1 supervisor and customer aggression were negatively related to Time 2 vigor, and these relationships were partially mediated by job stress. Contrary to our expectations, however, we found no significant differences between Time 1 supervisor and customer aggression in relation to Time 2 job stress and Time 2 vigor. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed. We extended research on multifoci approach to workplace aggression and empirically examined the direct and mediated effects of supervisor- and customer-initiated psychological aggression on vigor.

The paper uses data from the American Community Survey to explore the impact of pre-departure characteristics and class of entry on the integration of Nigerian- and Somali-born immigrants into US society. It argues for scholars to reconsider the treatment of African immigrants as a collective group as this obscures differences between immigrants from different African countries and the ways they adjust to life in the US. Understanding the ways in which disadvantaged immigrant groups navigate their day-to-day lives and the social structures which they draw upon for support is flagged as a possible area of future research inquiry.

This paper demonstrates a technique to empirically estimate the financial costs (or savings) of employing people with disabilities, in order to provide a mechanism for organizations to develop a “business case” for hiring these employees. We conducted a utility analysis, a technique common in Human Resources Management (HRM), to illustrate how the financial net value can be calculated based on the difference between service costs and service value. Employment costs include those related to wages, health benefits, pensions, life insurance, vacation pay, training, safety, absences, lateness, turnover, and disability accommodations. Service value estimates are based on wages and are adjusted for performance levels. The data used for our example is drawn from a food services company in Canada. Employees with disabilities in this example provided higher net value to the organization because of their average to above-average performance and lower turnover costs. More importantly, we demonstrate a process that can be used to assess the financial value of hiring workers with disabilities. Given the negative preconceptions often associated with hiring workers with disabilities, this method and example can provide evidence that will be useful for managers and disability advocates for assisting people who wish to join the workforce.

Our study addresses whether working parents with young children living in childcare deserts experience greater work-family conflict and psychological distress compared to those in more resourced areas. We use 2011 individual-level data from Toronto matched to census and administrative childcare data. Results suggest that mothers experience greater conflict than fathers when in high-resourced areas. Fathers who work long hours and reside in a desert report greater psychological distress than fathers in nondeserts. These patterns are contrary to the observed results for mothers’ distress by childcare availability. Our study underscores the impact of childcare options and the importance of access for all.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the role of gender in career exploration and job-seeking experiences among adults with autism.

Methods: The study drew on qualitative content analysis of 714 randomly sampled posts (357 by women and 357 by men) from an online autism forum. The stages of considering work: contemplation, preparation, and action informed the analysis.

Results: The analysis showed several similarities and some differences. In the initial stage of deciding whether or not to seek employment, low self-esteem, rejecting paid employment as a life goal, fear of losing disability benefits and parental overprotection influenced both genders. Gender role and family responsibilities further constrained women. In the stage of defining career goals, common issues included the need for autism-tailored career-matching tools and sector-specific guidance, and lack of self-employment support. Women were further limited by assumptions about stereotypical jobs to which they should aspire. In the job search stage, overly specific job descriptions, a lack of social networks, and transportation barriers influenced both genders. While women talked more frequently about unfavorable experiences in employment support services, men recounted more difficulties with job applications and interviews.

Conclusion: Gender-sensitive vocational approaches are needed to assist adults with autism throughout the career decision-making process.

Implications for rehabilitation

•Vocational psychologists, clinicians, and policymakers should help to overcome the psychological, social, and financial reasons that may lead adults with autism to decide not to pursue paid work.

•To assist in setting career goals, vocational specialists need to be aware of the challenges facing adults with autism across various employment sectors and provide them with tailored career-matching tests and tools.

•Vocational rehabilitation specialists and educators should encourage women with autism into non-traditional areas of employment.

•Vocational rehabilitation services should empower both males and females with autism by encouraging negotiation and self-advocacy, promoting autism-focused programs, and reducing paperwork and processing time.

•Vocational rehabilitation specialists should tailor their practice to the gender-specific needs of adults with autism throughout their career decision-making process.

While traditional labour market estimates indicate that there has been little change in the proportion of workers holding multiple jobs in North America, survey instrument deficiencies may be hiding more substantial growth driven by the gig economy. To address this possibility, I test a broader measure of multiple jobholding to examine its prevalence in the Canadian workforce based on two national studies of workers (2011 Canadian Work Stress and Health Study and 2019 Canadian Quality of Work and Economic Life Study). Almost 20% of workers in 2019 reported multiple jobholding – a rate that is three times higher than Statistics Canada estimates. While multivariate analyses reveal that the multiple jobholding rate in 2019 was 30% higher than in the 2011 Canadian Work Stress and Health Study, multiple jobholders in 2019 were less likely to report longer work hours in secondary employment. Analyses also revealed that having financial difficulties is consistently associated with multiple jobholding in 2011 and 2019. Collectively, these findings suggest that while the spread of short-term work arrangements has facilitated Canadians’ secondary employment decisions, for many workers these decisions may reflect underlying problems in the quality of primary employment in Canada, rather than labour market opportunity. I discuss the potential links between multiple jobholding, the gig economy and employment precariousness.

The online gig economy has disrupted many occupations in the past decade, but only more recently has it had an impact on professional fields. The recency of this trend indicates a need for understanding the impact of the online gig economy on professional workers. Using interview data from lawyers who work on one of China’s most successful online legal service platforms, this study finds that supplementary income and flexibility are the two major motives for lawyers to work online. Nevertheless, when working online, lawyers face lower intra-professional status and lower professional autonomy. Despite its growth, the digital legal market is imposing a minimal threat to the traditional legal market due to the lack of interference in labour supply and demand between these two markets.

The growth of outsourcing is widely viewed as undermining job security in traditionally unionized industries and workplaces. It is thus both a potential source of worker stress and an important issue for unions in collective bargaining. In this paper, we draw on a mixed method study of US call centers to answer two questions. First, what is the relationship between outsourcing and worker burnout? Second, how are unions responding to outsourcing and its impact on their members? The analysis is based on a survey of 2100 unionized call center workers from 7 employers and 17 bargaining units; coded information on provisions in collective agreements for each bargaining unit; semi-structured interviews with union leaders; and the transcripts of 5 webinars carried out with union representatives and shop stewards. Structural equation models show two paths leading from outsourcing to burnout; one direct path leading from workers’ perception that future outsourcing was a significant threat to their job security, and one indirect path leading from more intensive reported interactions with outsourced vendors and their employees. Union representatives have sought to reduce these pressures on workers through negotiating provisions in collective agreements that restrict the volume of work outsourced and protect workers from customer abuse. We evaluate variation in outcomes across bargaining units with different provisions, and conclude with a discussion of the implications of our findings for evaluating the political dynamics of outsourcing and its impact on worker well-being.

Time-use refers to the amount of time spent working and how that time is allocated over a particular period. A growing number of scholars are considering how social context—people’s immediate social environments (e.g., colleagues and managers, norms, work groups, and nonwork demands)—shape time-use. However, this research is fragmented across disciplines, methods, and levels of analysis. To integrate and advance knowledge in this area, we review empirical studies that inform current understanding of social context and time-use. In doing so, we develop a framework that reveals how the extant literature coalesces around four taken-for-granted social meanings: time-use as dedication, time-use as performance, time-use as identity, and time-use as power. These four meanings are anchored in broadly shared societal ideologies but are enacted and interpreted locally as people engage time in a specific context. Looking across the four social meanings, we discuss how they are interconnected, and identify overarching themes that unite them. Building on these insights, we suggest important directions for future research on the social context of time-use.

Commuting is a boundary-spanning demand that can limit employees’ availability to fulfill family-related roles and routines, leading to work-to-family conflict (WFC). We argue that in cities with challenging housing markets, implications of commuting for WFC may vary by residential attributes, and that the moderating effects of residential attributes may vary by gender due to differences in the work-family interface. Analyses of survey data from individuals in the Greater Toronto Area suggest that (1) the positive association between commuting and WFC is stronger among those who are dissatisfied with their place of residence and live in more disordered neighborhoods, irrespective of gender; (2) homeownership protects against the negative impact of commuting distance on WFC—but only among men; and (3) alternatively, the positive association between commuting and WFC becomes stronger as neighborhood quality increases—but only among women. Our study underscores the importance of “compensation” by positive residential qualities in the relationship between commuting and WFC.

Australia’s newly introduced National Disability Insurance Scheme establishes a cash-for-care model that pits the human rights of people with disabilities against the employment rights of care workers, generating a zero-sum game that sees the emergence of gig labour markets, a downward spiral in wages and conditions, and concerns about quality of care. This article introduces the concept of pro-market/gig market to analyze this state-led initiative to restructure a largely publicly funded and nonprofit workforce into a privatized, casualized, and fragmented one.

Driving cessation, often due to health-related changes, can be a particularly challenging and troublesome transition in older adulthood that can lead to social isolation. While policy makers have long recognized the potential impact of an aging population on Canada’s health care and national pension plans, the transportation needs of older adults have received relatively less attention. For older adults residing in small towns and rural areas who rely, more often than not, on the personal automobile there is usually limited or no access to public transportation. For policy makers to respond effectively to the transportation needs of an aging population, particularly those living in rural areas, the first step is to understand the travel behaviours of older adults living in such areas, particularly as they approach the transition when they will cease to drive. This paper reports on qualitative research exploring the driving-related challenges and needs faced by older adults in small towns and rural areas near Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Results revealed four major themes: lack of transportation options in rural areas, changes in driving behaviours, the lack of planning for driving cessation, and the social isolation that comes from the loss (or potential loss) of one’s driver’s license.

The loss of a driver’s license can significantly limit a person’s ability to engage in desired activities outside their home, which may, in turn, jeopardize their independence, well-being, and quality of life. This research seeks to quantify the impacts of driving status on out-of-home and social activity engagement among non-working older (≥ 65 years) Canadians, and the distribution of these impacts across socio-demographic and self-reported health domains. Nationally representative cross-sectional time diary data were used to measure the participation rates and daily durations of out-of-home and social activity engagement among non-working older Canadians who have a driver’s license (i.e., drivers) and those who did not (i.e., non-drivers). Results indicate drivers were, on average, more than twice as likely to participate in out-of-home and social activities compared to non-drivers. However, the mean durations of activity engagement, among the participant sub-sample, appear largely invariant to driving status. Among the socio-demographic and self-reported health factors affecting out-of-home and social activity engagement, geography appears the most influential for participation rates and durations, particularly for non-drivers who live in small towns and rural areas. Due to demographic trends that suggest an increasing number of older Canadians will be unable to drive, communities should expect a commensurate increase in demand for alternate mobility options, which will inevitably require a variety of context-specific accessibility strategies.

While fertility theories suggest that insecure labor market experiences encourage women to postpone having children, few have examined whether job insecurity perceptions influence fertility in the North American context—an omission we address in the current study. Findings from event history analyses of a panel dataset of Canadian workers (Canadian Work, Stress and Health Study) reveal that perceived job insecurity is salient for women’s first birth decisions but not subsequent births. Further subgroup analyses show that the association between perceived job insecurity and likelihood of a first birth is limited to college-educated women and those in low unemployment labor market regions. Among women with less than a college degree and those in high-unemployment regions, the likelihood of a first birth does not vary by respondents’ perceptions of insecurity. Results suggest a more nuanced relationship between insecure work and women’s childbearing decisions than predicted by traditional pro-cyclical accounts of the economy-fertility association.

Geographic research about disability and mobility often foregrounds the built environment as a site of in/exclusion. People with intellectual disabilities (IDs) have been mostly absent from this scholarship. To respond to this gap, we draw from an in-depth set of ‘mobile interviews’ with people with IDs in Toronto, Canada. Using a thematic approach, this paper suggests that more-than-material relations matter to the everyday mobilities and immobilities of people with IDs in urban settings. We aim to centre the participants’ experiences and call for greater inclusion of people with IDs in critical-geographic studies of the disability-mobility nexus. We highlight participants’ regular, planned, and spontaneous mobilities; their attitudes towards their own movement, stillness, and ‘stuck-ness’; and their experiences of staring in public spaces. The contingencies of belonging/exclusion, choice/regimen, and fitting/mis-fitting – as well as the more-than-material, varied, and contextual nature of those tensions – are present in many of the participants’ (im)mobilities in and through the city.