Development and validation of the work precarity scale

Given the increasing insecurity and instability of work, scholars have begun studying precarious work and its outcomes. However, the literature has primarily focused on objective indicators of precarious work, with no measures comprehensively assessing its psychological corollary - work precarity, the psychological and emotional experience of uncertainty, anxiety, and powerlessness related to one's work. Therefore, drawing from the work precarity framework, the goal of the current study was to develop a multidimensional, subjective scale of work precarity across two samples of working adults. In Study 1, we developed and refined a pool of items into a final measure with nine subscales - Unpredictability, Job Threat, Technological Precarity, Reemployment Insecurity, Interpersonal Precarity, Physical Precarity, Union Backlash, Deprivation of Basic Needs, and Meaninglessness. In Study 2, we tested factor structures and found the correlational and bifactor models to best explain the data. We also established construct and incremental validity, with work precarity predicting mental health and stress beyond existing measures. Finally, we collected eight-month follow up data and found scale scores to exhibit high test-retest reliability, longitudinal measurement invariance, and predictive validity over time. Therefore, the Work Precarity Scale is a reliable and valid measure that is useful for further research in this area.