Atypical work, worker voice and supervisor responses

Abstract

We study atypical workers' experiences with voice of in the Netherlands. We take a relational approach to worker voice and hypothesize that atypical workers are particularly vulnerable to refrain from voice and to experience suppression. We test our hypotheses using unique data on workers' actual experiences with voicing discontent and supervisors' responses (N = 4708; collected in 2017 and 2018). We find that temporary and freelance work, job insecurity, replaceability and precarious values are barriers to worker voice. Job insecurity and precarious values are associated with less support and more suppression from supervisors. These insights offer a valuable contribution to scholarly and public debates on atypical work by demonstrating how it not only affects workers' job security, income stability and entitlements but also reduces workers' ability to speak up and solve problems at work.