Job Insecurity during the COVID-19 Pandemic, Teachers’ Psychological Wellbeing, and Job Attitudes: Organizational Compassion as a Buffer

The heightened employment uncertainty during the peak of COVID-19 due to the forced closure of work places and the slump in economic activities exacerbated the stress occasioned by the pandemic situation. Based on the Event System Theory and job insecurity literature, the current study investigates organizational compassion as a buffer against the effects of job insecurity during COVID-19 on teachers' psychological wellbeing and job attitudes after the reopening of schools. Data was obtained from 470 primary and secondary school teachers across Uganda. Using psychological wellbeing as a mediator and organizational compassion as a moderator, the moderated mediation hypothesis was supported for all job attitudes except normative commitment. Our findings suggest that organizational compassion is essential in alleviating employees’ suffering during time of need. However, it should be offered to employees in a way that does not foster less desired employee attitudes and behaviors.