All that glitters is not gold! Job insecurity and well-being in STEM research fellows: a latent profile analysis.

Job insecurity is now one of the major stressors affecting well-being at work. In academia, researchers appear to be in the most precarious position. To explore the relationship between job insecurity and well-being at work, we analyzed a sample of research fellows belonging to STEM disciplines in Italy. Using a latent profile approach, we identified three "hidden" subgroups: "Safe & Sound"; "Safe not so Sound" and "Neither Safe or Sound." Compared to previous studies, our results show that even within a population of STEM researchers that tends to have good levels of employability and mobility, there are subgroups of people characterized by greater job insecurity and low work commitment, who suffer from emotional exhaustion and cynicism at work level, i.e., more exposed to the risk of burnout.

Work Ability and Its Correlates With Workers Aging Among Blue-Collar Workers in a Manufacturing Company: A Cross-sectional Study.

OBJECTIVE: This article assesses work ability in a sample of blue-collar workers who often perform physically demanding tasks. METHOD: The data collected resulted in 354 validly completed questionnaires from 426 participants (response rate: approximately 90%). RESULTS: In this sample, the average score on WAI of workers is 37.42 (SD = 6.62), indicating good work ability. Regression analyses revealed that work ability was significantly associated skill discretion (ß = 0.365, P = 0.001), home-work conflict (ß = -0.199, P = 0.001), and work-home conflict (ß = -0.320, P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Of the psychosocial factors examined in this study, skill discretion was the most important factor associated with work ability. Therefore, it is necessary to develop measures that support this component.

The Perception of Workplace Safety and of Risk of Contagion among Preschool Teachers during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on early childhood educational contexts and on educators' working conditions. This study aims to examine the change over time in personal contribution to workplace safety and perception of risk of infection among preschool teachers after returning to in-person work during the third wave of the pandemic (spring 2021). Teachers' perceptions of workplace safety can influence their quality of work-life and, as a consequence, the quality of service offered to children. Data were collected using two questionnaires: at T0 (January) and at T1 (May). The results showed relations between organizational and personal actions to manage risk and fear of infection at work. Concern about COVID-19 contagion decreased over time (t = 5.53, p = 0.000) and perceptions of personal contribution to workplace safety related to COVID-19 improved: t = -2.18 p = 0.031. The decrease in these concerns illustrates how perceptions of ability to manage contagion and protect workplace safety of preschool teachers improved over time, despite the stability of the pandemic context in the first half of 2021. After the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, this study gives an account of some good practices and their perceived effectiveness in terms of safety for childhood educational contexts.