Changes in psychological contracts during the global financial crisis: the manager's perspective

The employee–organisation relationship is dynamic and arguably affected by contextual factors, such as a change in the economic environment. This study uses data collected from managers in Australia before and after the beginning of the global financial crisis (GFC) to examine the changes in psychological contract (PC) terms from the manager's perspective. In particular, as industries can be affected differently by economic crisis and gender discrimination can increase in tough economic conditions, we examined if any changes in PC terms were contingent on industry and employee gender. The study's results show that the terms of the employment relationship deteriorated in Australia only for employees working in industries affected by the GFC. Further, we found that some gender differences in the terms of the PC exist independent of the state of the economy. In addition, a three-way interaction indicates that managers working in industries not affected by the GFC are allocating a greater proportion of their resources to their female employees than to their male employees. Ongoing labour shortages and gender inequities in Australia might have prompted managers in non-affected industries to use their relative ‘resource-rich’ advantage to positively influence the employee–organisation relationship for female employees, a traditionally disadvantaged group.