Moving from job loss to career management: The past, present, and future of involuntary job loss research

Job loss continues to be a pervasive problem, affecting large numbers of workers each year. The research of job loss has evolved from the early, descriptive studies that attempted to understand what the loss of work meant for individuals to a more complex understanding of what individuals do to attempt to manage the job loss and identification of the factors that predispose them to be able to do this managing. From this research, we know that job loss has negative consequences for most, but not all, individuals, that for some individuals having a bad job is better than having no job, and individuals who are more resilient and have better coping skills have better outcomes following the experience. There are, however, many questions yet to be answered, especially in light of the often confusing and sometimes contradictory results of past studies. This review traces the research of job loss from the early exploratory studies through the development of complex models focused around stress, appraisal, and coping and on to the current focus on reemployment quality, underemployment, career exploration and planning, and employability. The article concludes with directions for future theoretical and empirical research, for design of outplacement and other organizational programs, and for policy decisions.