Pursuing stability in crisis: The impact of COVID-19-related work changes on information search and job-seeking behaviors

• Mengzhe Liu

  College of Public Administration and Law, Hunan Agricultural University

• Yifang Liu

  School of Business, Qingdao University

• Dongrui Xia

  Department of New Materials and Architectural Engineering, Zaozhuang Vocational College

• Hao Liu

  School of Business, Qingdao University

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly altered the way employees work and has had a significant impact on their subsequent behaviors. In this study we applied affective events theory and developed an adjustable mediation model to examine how COVID-19-related work changes influence employees’ behaviors. We conducted an online survey and collected data from 571 people employed in various businesses across several provinces in China. The results indicated that COVID-19-related work changes positively predicted work-related information seeking and job-seeking behaviors, with job insecurity serving as a mediator. Furthermore, job embeddedness amplified the positive relationship between job insecurity and the search for work-related information. The theoretical and practical consequences of these results are discussed.

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