Financialisation and the management of people: Are leveraged buyouts bad for intrinsic job quality?

Abstract

This paper provides the first nationally representative assessment of intrinsic job quality in leveraged buyouts (LBOs). We propose a workforce re-contracting perspective, which views LBOs as having negative implications for some aspects of intrinsic job quality (job demands) but positive implications for others (job resources), and employee wellbeing and affective outcomes that are no different than in comparable non-LBOs. Our empirical findings support this perspective. Nevertheless, we find some evidence that certain LBO types have more negative implications for specific elements of intrinsic job quality than others. However, our overall findings contribute towards studies suggesting that the impact of LBOs on employees is modest, while also highlighting the varying implications of different LBO types for employees.