Journal of Managerial Psychology

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate changes in psychological well-being over time for individuals who experienced a career disruption in the form of a company closing, and to examine the relationships between employability, well-being, and job satisfaction. It seeks to expand on previous work of job loss relative to the long-term impact of the experience and on Fugate et al.'s psycho-social conceptualization of employability.

Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected at the time of job loss (T1) and six years later (T2). The 73 respondents at T2 represent a stratified random sample of the T1 respondents. Hypotheses were tested with paired sample t-tests and hierarchical multiple regression.

Findings – Results indicate that the negative psychological impact of job loss diminishes over time. Additionally, employability predicted well-being and job satisfaction.

Practical implications – The results of the study provide guidance for the design and administration of outplacement and related programs that focus on increasing employability and psychological well-being, and suggest ways that individuals can shield themselves from the negative consequences associated with a job loss.

Social implications – The results have policy implications for the design of government funded outplacement and retraining programs.

Originality/value – The paper is the first to examine job loss over a six-year period of time, and the first to examine the impact of employability attributes on multiple indicators of well-being and on job satisfaction in the job loss context.