Work changes caused by the pandemic: a threat to identification and compliance with health regulations?

This paper investigates how changes to work (caused by the COVID-19 pandemic) and job insecurity relate to identification and subsequent compliance to public health mitigation guidelines. Specifically, we argue that job insecurity and certain changes to to social contacts, workload and autonomy can be related to a lowered identification with the working population. Three-country survey data from Belgium, the UK and the US collected at the height of the pandemic supports that people who reported changes that were in line with what most people experienced (e.g. a decrease in social contacts at work) and changes that symbolised more importance (e.g. an increase in workload due to the pandemic) identified more strongly with the working population. Higher job insecurity was associated with less identification with the working population. Changes to autonomy did not play a role. Identification with the working population was related to higher compliance with national COVID-19 health guidelines. A 2SLS instrumental variable estimation controlled for endogeneity issues and confirmed the relationship between identification and health compliance. The study brings important general lessons for the societal impact of work-related changes and discusses applications beyond the pandemic context.