Work Precariousness, Job Insecurity and Perceived Psychiatric Distress in a Sample of Egyptian Employees

Introduction: The term precarious work is being increasingly used worldwide. Workers are precarious if
they are in involuntary part-time work, in seasonal or casual work or in temporary jobs without a legal work
contract or formal appointment. Precarious work becomes a global challenge and constituting a serious problem
threatens the well-being of workers and their families. Aim of work: To verify the existence and prevalence
of job insecurity and precarious employment among a sample of Egyptian workers and to clarify the role of
perceived job insecurity and work precariousness on the worker′s mental health. Materials and methods:
A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted on 130 subjects of private and public sector workers in
Zagazig city, Egypt. Employment Precariousness Scale was used for measuring the employment precariousness
and General Health Questionnaire was used for estimating the minor psychiatric morbidity. Results: The
majority of private sector workers showed a statistically significant high/very high level of precariousness
and job insecurity (87.7%, and 69.2% respectively) compared to the public sector. Only 10.8% of public
sector showed poor mental health compared to 30.8% for the private sector with a statistically significant
difference. Unsatisfied income, having another or second job, perceived work precariousness and job insecurity
demonstrated significant prediction for psychiatric distress. Conclusion and recommendations: The private
sector workers suffered a higher prevalence of work precariousness, job insecurity, and poor mental health in
comparison to public sector workers. Precarious work should be regarded as an important social determinant
of mental health problems which necessitate urgent interventions with policy tools in order to improve health,
increase firms’ productivity, and so wider economic impact.