Job Security

Job security is the probability that an individual will keep his or her job; a job with a high level of job security is such that a person with the job would have a small chance of becoming unemployed.

Factors affecting job security Job security is dependent on economy, prevailing business conditions, and the individual's personal skills. It has been found that people have more job security in times of economic expansion and less in times of a recession. Also, some laws (such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964) bolster job security by making it illegal to fire employees for certain reasons. Unemployment rate is a good indicator of job security and the state of the economy and is tracked by economists, government officials, and banks.

Typically, government jobs and jobs in education, healthcare and law enforcement are considered very secure while private sector jobs are generally believed to offer lower job security and it usually varies by industry, location, occupation and other factors.

Personal factors such as education, work experience, job functional area, work industry, work location, etc., play an important role in determining the need for an individual's services, and impacts their personal job security. Since job security depends on having the necessary skills and experience that are in demand by employers, which in turn depend on the prevailing economic condition and business environment, individuals whose services are in demand by employers will tend to enjoy higher job security.

To some extent, job security also varies by employment laws of each country. A worker in Continental Europe, if asked about his job security, would reply by naming the type of statutory employment contract he has, ranging from temporary (no job security) to indefinite (virtually equivalent to 'tenure' in US universities but across the whole economy). However, people's job security eventually depends on whether they are employable or not, and if businesses have a need for their skills or not, so although employment laws can offer some relief and hedge from unemployment risk, they only have a marginal contribution to job security of individuals. Fact is, individuals need to have the right skill set to have good job security.