Hjördís Sigursteinsdóttir

Vinnugleðin hefur tapast, nú er bara álag og erfitt og lítil gleði - starfsumhverfi opinberra starfsmanna á tímum efnahagsþrenginga

The year 2008 marked the beginning of a great recession worldwide and Iceland became one of the first countries in Europe to be affected by the international crisis. The effects of the crisis were widely spread in the community and even though its negative impact was more strongly felt in the private sector, it also had a large impact on the public sector, particularly municipalities. The aim of this study was to examine how municipal employees experienced job satisfaction, workload, job security, satisfaction with management and how management cares for the health and wellbeing of employees two, three, and five years aftir the economic collapse in 2008. In addition, the study addresses the question of whether factors in the work environment as well as personal factors can predict the likelihood of job satisfaction. Mixed methods were used (questionnaires and focus group interviews) to gather data. The results showed a decline in job satisfaction following the economic crisis, mainly due to cost- cutting management. Working condictions worsened significantly as time passed and this was manifested in staff reductions, increased workload, declined job security, more dissatisfaction with management and less care for the health and wellbeing of employees, especially in workplaces where manpower had been downsized. Redundancies at work was the best predictor for job satisfaction (OR=0.590), reflecting less job satisfaction. Furthermore, other hygiene factors make a statistical contribution to the model. It is important that managers are aware of the work-related wellbeing of employees, especially in times of economic recession, not only among employees that have been hit hardest but also those who are normally considered to have greater job security, such as municipal employees.

Einelti og líðan starfsfólks sveitarfélaga á tímum efnahagsþrenginga

The aim of this research is to examine bullying and well-being of municipalities employees who remained at work after the economic collapse in October 2008. An online survey was conducted three times, in February 2010, in May 2011 and in February 2013 among employees of 20 municipalities with known e-mail addresses. The main findings are that bullying exists among employees of the municipalities, and it has increased between time points of the study. Social support at work is declining as well as satisfaction with management of the workplace and a desire to quit the job increases. Victims of bullying feel they receive less social support than those who have not experienced bullying at workplace; they are not as satisfied with management of the workplace and have a greater desire to quit the job. It can be concluded that bullying has become a serious problem in the workplace and must be dealt with immediately, especially since studies have shown that bullying at workplace has serious consequences for the health and well-being of victims and is considered a pest posing greater than all other work-related stress.