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Article

Understanding Job Stress and Organizational Effectiveness of Airline Employees Due to Changes in the Employment Environment under COVID-19—Focusing on the Difference in the GAD-7 of Employees

by
Dong-Jin Shin
1,
Yeon-Sun Kim
2,* and
Bo-Kyeong Kim
3,*
1
Department of Hotel Management, Honam University, 120, Honamdae-gil, Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju 62399, Gyeonggi-do, Korea
2
Department of Hotel and Tourism, Wonkwang Health Science University, 514, Iksan-daero, Iksan-si 54538, Jeollabuk-do, Korea
3
Department of Tourism Management, Koje College, Majeon 1raod91, Geoje-si 53325, Gyeongsangnam-do, Korea
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2021, 13(24), 13722; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132413722
Submission received: 30 October 2021 / Revised: 3 December 2021 / Accepted: 3 December 2021 / Published: 13 December 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability Performance in the Tourism Sector)
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Versions Notes

Abstract

:
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the job stress of employees due to changes in the employment environment of airlines under COVID-19 and job burnout and turnover intention. GAD-7 was applied to verify the influence relationship linking job stress, job burnout and turnover intention, using a structural equation model according to anxiety, namely, COVID blues. The results of this study can provide a theoretical basis for the relationship linking job stress, job burnout and turnover intention of employees due to changes in the employment environment resulting from the business crisis of airlines under the COVID-19 pandemic, which has been ongoing since 2020. In addition, it was possible to understand the degree of impact on stress, job burnout and turnover intention by measuring the anxiety disorder of employees, i.e., COVID-19 blues, due to the prolonged pandemic. This study provides basic data on human management measures in the aviation field. Furthermore, according to the results of this study, changes in the employment environment led to job stress in employees, which in turn increased employee job burnout and turnover intention. These results can provide practical implications and help human resource managers to better manage employees, as it was revealed that both changes in the organization of employees and changes in the employment environment of temporary employees increase job stress. Lastly, in the situation where COVID-19 and its associated blues continue, the GAD-7 scale, typically used for patients in hospitals, was applied to airline employees to determine their anxiety levels and psychological state, representing an effective method of lowering intention to leave, job stress and job burnout.

1. Introduction

Since 2020, the airline industry has suffered a recession, with difficulties in maintaining employment and facilities due to COVID-19. This pandemic caused the number of international and domestic airport users in Korea to decrease by 58.8% compared to the previous year. The situation of Incheon International Airport, which accounts for the largest number of domestic airport users, is getting worse. According to the 2020 report of the Korea Tourism Organization [1], the number of passengers using Incheon International Airport stood at about 12.05 million last year, representing one-sixth of the previous year. This is the first time in 12 years that a decline has occurred, with reference to the 1.7% decline in 2008, when the financial crisis hit [1,2].
This recession has also had a severe impact on airline employees; for example, in July 2020, T’way Air received an additional application for unpaid leave, with 60% of its employees taking paid leave [2]. As of September 2021, the Korean government is supporting timely measures for daily recovery with vaccines and medical services to strengthen the maintenance of the airline industry’s ecosystem, allowing for its restoration [3].
On the other hand, looking at the results of a survey and associated research on the psychological response of Koreans to COVID-19, anxiety was most frequent at 60.2%, followed by fear at 16.7% and shock at 10.9%. Moreover, about 50% of respondents experienced depression due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic [4,5]. Similar reports have also been released overseas. In Italy, it was reported that 21% of adults experienced more than severe anxiety, and 7.3% experienced severe insomnia [6]. In addition, 19% of Austrians experienced at least moderate anxiety with COVID-19, and 16% experienced at least moderate insomnia [7]. In particular, the anxiety of married people was higher than that of single people. Furthermore, adults over 30 years old had higher anxiety levels than those 13–20 years old [8]. These findings are confirmation that this new infectious disease affects psychological and emotional aspects beyond the epidemic itself [9,10,11]. In particular, it has been reported that new infectious diseases leading to pandemics, such as Influenza A (H1N1) and SARS, caused more extensive, more serious and higher levels of stress and emotional distress compared to those experienced in daily life [11,12,13], and these levels of anxiety and stress were found to be maintained over time [12].
In order to reflect these psycho-emotional aspects of anxiety and fear, a new term, “COVID blues”—a combination of COVID-19 and “blues”, meaning depression—was coined. This state is related to a fear of contracting COVID-19 with the increasing number of confirmed cases, frustration caused by not interacting with loved ones and an inability to go out freely due to social distancing policies, as well as the anger caused by economic losses as the economy worsens in Korea [3].
Despite the negative impact of “COVID blues” on many aspects of daily life, a diagnostic scale for preventing depression caused by COVID-19 has not yet been developed. However, there have been several studies aimed at providing basic data to prepare health policies for the prevention of infectious diseases in the community according to the level of anxiety and psychological disorders, using an anxiety measurement tool called Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) for ordinary people.
Therefore, this study aimed to measure the anxiety level of airline employees who are currently experiencing severe business difficulties due to COVID-19, for whom psychological countermeasures for the prolonged pandemic are needed. For this purpose, levels of anxiety were investigated using Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), and the effect of that anxiety on job stress, job burnout and actual turnover intention was analyzed empirically. In addition, this study investigated the job stress of employees due to changes in their employment environment aimed at minimizing business losses due to COVID-19, and also verified the negative effect of job stress on job burnout and turnover intention in airline employees due to COVID-19 as of 2021. Accordingly, the results of this study can provide effective countermeasures for airlines by verifying specific factors that negatively affect job stress, job burnout and turnover intentions due to changes in the airline environment that occur as a consequence of COVID-19. Lastly, the results of this study can serve as the basis for practical guidelines for positive human management measures in the current era of living with COVID-19.

2. Literature Review

2.1. The Changes in the Employment Environment

Changes in the employment environment include a shift in the traditional employment relationship framework from supplier-centered to user-centered practices, in accordance with the internationalization and diversification of companies. The development of science and technology due to the fourth industrial revolution will cause many changes in human life, and it is predicted both that new jobs will be created and that many jobs that currently dominate industry will disappear [14].
As remote, non-face-to-face activities and transactions increase after COVID-19, online commerce, online platform support and IT technical support industries are rapidly growing. However, service industries such as the accommodation business, the tourist transport business and the travel business are suffering from business difficulties due to a decrease in travelers, and are struggling with financial difficulties. This is accelerating the changes in the employment environment, namely, a decrease in employment.
Regarding airlines, the number of domestic and foreign travelers has been declining since COVID-19, and the service industry is suffering the most severe financial difficulties [2]. In fact, at the beginning of COVID-19, Hyundai Development Company gave up the acquisition of Asiana Airlines, which caused low-cost airlines to face financial difficulties one after another. To solve this financial difficulty, on 16 November 2020, the Korea Development Bank announced that it would promote the merger of Korean Air and Asiana Airlines, which caused an inevitable change in the employment environment [4]. This change in the employment environment not only reduced the effort that employees put into their jobs, it also increased employee turnover due to stress and job instability [15,16,17]. In other words, various changes in the employment environment, such as increasing the ratio of non-regular workers—for example, temporary workers, daily workers, contract workers and dispatched workers from the existing regular employment-centered employment structure—or changing the working system, organizational structure and performance compensation system through outsourcing, mergers and acquisitions, cause employment uncertainty.
In previous studies on the factors of change in the employment environment of the service industry, non-regular workers, outsourcing and organizational change were found to hurt job stability in two ways: the possibility of job loss and a sense of helplessness. However, these factors of change in the employment environment allow the organization to survive in an atmosphere of endless competition, with its rapid and diverse changes. Therefore, it is necessary to induce in employees a willingness to respond appropriately to changes in the employment environment [18]. Thus, in this study, based on previous studies, changes in the employment environment of airlines due to COVID-19 are divided into layoffs, non-regular workers, organizational change and outsourcing, and the effects of these on the job stress of employees are verified.

2.2. Job Stress

The etymology of “stress” derives from “stringere”, which means “to pull tight”, and was said to be “a state in which psychological and mental tension felt in an environment difficult to adapt to” [19]. Job stress can be defined as the stress that occurs during the process of job performance in internal members of an organization [20]. Looking at the definition of job stress, Kim and Lee [21] and Park and Kim [22] described job stress as a dysfunctional perception of physical and psychological reactions and stimuli experienced in the process of performing a job. As a result of this dysfunction, employees’ emotions are threatened and psychological dissatisfaction increases. Job stress may occur depending on the job environment, may arise from role conflicts in job performance or may be caused by psychological distress or imbalance due to an inability to fulfill a role during job performance or friction with colleagues [23]. When job stress is aggravated, job performance and productivity are lowered, leading to distress, which accepts the stimulus of stress as a negative value [24]. In addition, job stress in those in power within the organization has a negative effect on job performance reduction and turnover intention due to the nature of the tasks carried out by airline flight attendants within a strictly hierarchical culture [25].

2.3. Job Burnout

The term “burnout” first began to appear mainly in the human service field. Burnout was defined as a state of fatigue and frustration caused by the unrealistic and excessive work demands experienced by workers in the service industries [26,27]. Job burnout can be understood in a different dimension from job stress, being defined as a process in which a person experiences a continuous or long-term negative psychological reaction caused by stress and enters a state of physical and mental exhaustion due to repeated mental pressure [28,29]. Among a variety of jobs in the hospitality industry, airline cabin service employees require a lot of stamina, unlike general employees.
On long-distance international flights, physical and mental fatigue easily accumulate. Therefore, it is reasonable to regard physical and emotional labor as causes of burnout [27]. Maslach and Jackson [30] classified burnout as emotional exhaustion, dehumanization and loss of personal achievement. Emotional exhaustion is the main aspect of burnout, dehumanization is the generation of cynical attitudes and emotions towards one’s counterparts and loss of personal achievement is the exhaustion that generates negative or cynical attitudes and emotions. Lastly, loss of personal achievement is said to be exhaustion, leading to negative evaluations of oneself and one’s counterpart. Employees in the hospitality industry have high levels of emotional exhaustion, and the experience of exhaustion due to the job stress of employees working at customer contact points has a negative impact on service quality [31].

2.4. Turnover Intention

Turnover is a movement that crosses the boundaries of qualification as a member of society, and in a narrower sense, it means that an organization member terminates their relationship with an organization by leaving that organization [32]. Turnover intention is an individual’s psychological reaction to turnover, and refers to an individual’s psychological state in changing from thinking about turnover to real turnover [33]. One employee’s turnover can create an atmosphere encouraging turnover for other employees in the organization, and can negatively affect the employee leaving the company, such as by affecting the effort to search for a new organization, which could induce stress. Therefore, in terms of job security, minimizing the turnover rate can be an efficient management strategy for a company, and there is therefore a need for a study on turnover intention [34].
Looking at previous studies of airline employees regarding turnover intention, Kim et al. [35] and Lee and Cho [36] stated that job instability is an antecedent factor affecting turnover intention. Lee and Lee [37] suggested creating job satisfaction through empowerment, in order to lower cabin crew turnover intention, while Han [38] noted that if aviation employees experience effective job engagement by inducing job satisfaction through meticulous human management, they will reduce their turnover intention and refrain from turnover behavior. In terms of organizational management, turnover has the virtuous function of organizational rotation, but excessive employee turnover causes adverse functions, such as disconnection or an overload of tasks, which negatively affect organizational goals and performance management. Furthermore, it can cause delays in the progress of new projects and negatively affect the achievement of an organization’s strategic goals [39]. On the other hand, looking at the results of the study on turnover intention in airlines and employees, job environment, job instability and job stress are the main variables that affect turnover. Therefore, it is judged that research on turnover intention in the recent COVID-19 pandemic will have academic and practical value.

2.5. Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7)

Anxiety Disorder (Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7) is said to be a physical symptom resulting from a state of tension caused by worry and anxiety. Anxiety disorder research is mainly used in the medical field as a measurement of patients’ psychological anxiety [40]. However, this study focuses on the anxiety of airline employees during the COVID-19 pandemic, and aims to derive its results using the anxiety disorder evaluation tool. GAD-7 has the advantage of effectively discriminating against anxiety disorders within a short time, so it is widely used in foreign primary medical institutions. In a recent study, using an anxiety disorder (GAD-7) measurement tool, the relationship between anxiety and quality of sleep during the COVID-19 period was investigated [41,42]. The study showed significant differences in sleep quality, insomnia and total sleep time according to the different levels of anxiety. In this study, based on the seven measurement items of the GAD-7, aviation employees were divided into high- and low-anxiety groups, and differences in the relationship between changes in employment environment, job stress, job burnout and turnover intention were presented.

3. Research Model and Methodology

3.1. Research Model and Hypotheses Development

This study aims to investigate the effect of job stress resulting from changes in the employment environment of airlines on job burnout and turnover intention during COVID-19, and the influences of job stress, job burnout and turnover intention on employees through the measurement of airline employees’ anxiety disorder (GAD-7). For this purpose, a research model was established, as shown in Figure 1, based on previous studies.
Firstly, Lee and Lee [43] investigated the relationship between job stress and turnover intention by classifying the changes in the employment environment of restaurants, which are part of the hospitality industry, into two categories: layoffs and changes in job characteristics. The change in job characteristics was shown to affect job stress, but it was found that layoffs had a positive (+) effect on job stress. Park [44] stated that changes in the employment environment of hotels (an increase in temporary positions, changes in organizational structure, generalization of layoffs) affected job instability. Won and Tak [45] stated that the changes in layoffs, which became part of a company’s quantitative flexibility strategy, increased uncertainty and stress about employment and affected the attitude of employees. Hypothesis 1 was established by referring to the previous studies as described above.
Hypothesis 1 (H1).
Changes in the employment environment will have a positive (+) effect on job stress.
Hypothesis 1a (H1a).
Temporary position will have a positive (+) effect on job stress.
Hypothesis 1b (H1b).
Layoff will have a positive (+) effect on job stress.
Hypothesis 1c (H1c).
Organizational change will have a positive (+) effect on job stress.
Hypothesis 1d (H1d).
Outsourcing will have a positive (+) effect on job stress.
Lee and Lee [37] divided job stress into three sub-factors: job demands, organizational system and inadequate compensation. They then investigated the relationship between job stress and turnover intention. All factors were found to affect turnover intention. In addition, increases in organizational structure-related stress lowered organizational commitment and lead to higher turnover intention [46]. Another study, on deluxe hotel employees, suggested the importance of job stress in human resource management because job stress affects job burnout and job stress directly affects turnover intention [47].
Meanwhile, Moon [48] stated that the job stress levels of an airline cabin crew had a large impact on job performance. By examining the relationship between job stress, job performance and turnover intention in an airline cabin crew, job stress was found to cause emotional burnout and increase turnover intention, while the job performance of cabin crew members lowered turnover intention [25,49].
As such, research on the relationship between job stress, job burnout and turnover intention has been actively conducted in various fields, and it was found that most job stresses have a positive (+) effect on job burnout and turnover intention. Based on these previous studies, Hypothesis 2 and Hypothesis 3 were established in this study as follows:
Hypothesis 2 (H2).
Job stress will have a positive (+) effect on job burnout.
Hypothesis 3 (H3).
Job stress will have a positive (+) effect on turnover intention.
In a previous study on the performance of anxiety and infection prevention behaviors targeting the general public, the Korean translation of Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) was used to measure levels of anxiety about COVID-19. The possibility of infection, the possibility of infection prevention and the relationship between performance and infection prevention behaviors were also examined. After measuring anxiety, statistical differences were found according to gender, age, marital status and whether the family were living together, with a difference found between the age groups in their 20s and 30s. Anxiety was statistically lower in those living alone than in the case of those living with a family.
Based on these previous studies, this study aims to measure the anxiety of airline employees during the COVID-19 pandemic by applying the average score to the results of the relationship of this study. Hypothesis 4, Hypothesis 5 and Hypothesis 6 were established to verify the differences in levels of job stress, job burnout and the turnover intention of airline employees in the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hypothesis 4 (H4).
(GAD7: High) and (GAD7: Low) will have different effects on job stress caused by changes in the employment environment.
Hypothesis 5 (H5).
(GAD7: High) and (GAD7: Low) will have different effects on job burnout caused by changes in the employment environment.
Hypothesis 6 (H5).
(GAD7: High) and (GAD7: Low) will have different effects on job stress and turnover intention caused by changes in the employment environment.

3.2. Operational Definition

1. Changes in the Employment Environment
In this study, changes in the employment environment were defined as “changes to enforce temporary position, layoffs, organizational change and outsourcing for survival strategies of airline industries due to COVID-19” [15,43]. Based on the previous studies [50], sub-factors were revised and supplemented to fit the airline employees, with 4 questions for a temporary position, 3 questions for layoff, 2 questions for organizational change and 2 questions for outsourcing, each using a seven-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree).
2. Job Stress
Job stress in this study was defined as “the stress that airline employees experience in the process of performing their jobs” [21,23]. Based on the studies, the questionnaire was prepared in consideration of the most appropriate questionnaire for airline employees [15,21].
3. Job Burnout
In this study, job burnout was defined as “physical and mental exhaustion caused by negative psychology and repeated mental pressure in the process of performing an employee’s job“, and was measured using a seven-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree) [51].
For the question of job burnout, the 4 question topics most suitable for airline employees, such as irritation at work, job burden and dissatisfaction with one’s job, were prepared based on previous studies [47]. Responses to the questions were answered on a Likert 7-point scale (1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree).
4. Turnover Intention
Turnover intention was defined as “the intention of the employee to seek a job in order to leave the organization and move to another company“ [52]. The questionnaire on this topic was composed of four questions, on topics such as wanting to work at another company, wanting to quit the current company and searching for a job advertisement [43]. Responses to the questions were answered on a Likert 7-point scale (1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree).
5. Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7)
To measure Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) level, 7 items were used, such as “feeling nervous, anxious or agitated”, “unable to stop or control worrying”, “worrying too much about other things”, “having trouble staying comfortable”, “being too restless and standing still”, “difficulty sitting due to being easily irritable” and “feeling fear that something terrible is about to happen” [25,53]. Responses to the questions were answered on a Likert 7-point scale (1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree).

3.3. Data Collection and Analysis Method

To achieve the purpose of this study, a random self-filling questionnaire was conducted for airline employees (reservation/ticketing, management department, sales service, airport service, in-flight board service). For the purpose of the survey, a survey was conducted targeting employees of two major domestic airlines (Korea Air and Asiana), as well as Korean employees working for some foreign airlines. Although these two airlines are Korea’s representative large airlines, they were selected due to the fact that they were facing economic stagnation due to COVID-19 as much as, for example, LCC airlines.
Because of restrictions on airline visiting due to COVID-19, as well as the long-term vacation of employees, both online and offline surveys were conducted. The period of survey was from the end of February to the end of August 2021, at a time when COVID-19 was surging. Before this survey, a preliminary survey was conducted, and based on this, both online and offline (in-person surveys) were conducted together. A total of 370 copies were distributed, and 353 copies of questionnaire responses were collected as data for the verification of this study, excluding questionnaires with insincere responses such as double check, omission and same check.
A nominal scale was used for general items of respondents, and a Likert 7-point scale was used with the items for hypothesis testing. As analysis tools, SPSS 21.0 and AMOS 21.0 package programs were used. As an analysis method, frequency analysis was performed for general items of respondents, followed by confirmatory factor analysis, and the hypotheses were verified with path structural equations modeling. In addition, to measure the level of anxiety, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7) developed by Spitzer et al. [54] and Lowe et al. [53], and adapted and validated by Seo and Park [40], was used. Following this, a descriptive statistical analysis of a total of 7 items was performed, and the group with high and low levels of anxiety disorder was divided based on the mean value of all items, with the difference in the influence relationship of each variable being analyzed.

4. Results

4.1. Profile of the Sample

The results of the descriptive statistical analysis on the demographic characteristics of respondents for this study and the GAD-7 scale of this study are shown in Table 1 and Figure 2 respectively.
As a result of the descriptive statistical analysis of GAD-7, the feeling that “It is difficult to be comfortable” occurred at the highest level among airline employees, showing significant anxiety, with mean = 4.76. Meanwhile, “Fear of something terrible happening” was the second highest feeling reported, with mean = 4.36. On the other hand, “I get annoyed easily” was the lowest, with mean = 3.68.

4.2. Confirmatory Factor Analysis

As a result of confirmatory factor analysis each variable or sub-factor in this study (Table 2), the standard factor load exceeded the threshold of 0.5, and the conceptual reliability (CR) of all latent variables met the standard. As a result of validity, it was found that the non-standard lambda (λ) values of all observed variables were significant (C.R. > 1.96) and satisfied the standard value of 0.6. As a result of confirmatory factor analysis on the entire model, the model fit was x2 = 2.833 (CMIN/DF = 934.982/330, p = 0.000), GFI = 0.912, AGFI = 0.810, IFI = 0.914, TLI = 0.893, CFI = 0.913, RMR = 0.140, RMSEA = 0.072, indicating that the fit was generally satisfied.

4.3. Correlation Analysis and Reliability

As a result of the correlation analysis in Table 3, AVE > (correlation)2 was obtained by comparing the square of the correlation between each AVE and the variable, and the sub-factors of each variable were properly explained (concentrated validity), so that conceptual validity was secured. In addition, it can be verified that the items were independent of each other and did not explain overlapping concepts, so it can be judged that overall construct validity was secured.
A structural equation model was performed to verify the hypothesis, and the relationship between the variables was estimated based on the covariance matrix of the measured variables remaining after the validity evaluation was performed. The hypotheses proposed in this study were verified, with causality between the variables to be confirmed being verified in the following order:
First, causality between changes in employment environment and job stress was investigated.
Second, causality between job stress, job burnout and turnover intention was investigated.
Finally, the GAD-7 of airline employees was measured and the structural path for the entire model was investigated based on the mean value (mean = 4.230).
First, the model fit of the structural equation, which is shown in Table 4, was found to satisfy the criteria as a whole, and was judged to be suitable in explaining the structural influence relationship between the research concepts. Also, the results of path analysis are shown in Figure 3. The detailed analysis results are as follows. First, as a result of the test of Hypothesis 1, it was found that such changes in the employment environment as temporary positions, layoffs and organizational changes had a positive (+) effect on job stress, and that outsourcing had no effect. Job stress in Hypothesis 2 and Hypothesis 3 had a positive (+) effect on job burnout and turnover intention. With Hypothesis 4, regarding the difference in job stress according to changes in the employment environment measured using GAD-7, it was found that job stress had an effect on the temporary position and organizational change in the group with low anxiety. As for the group with high anxiety (n = 178), temporary positions, layoffs and outsourcing had an influence on job stress. As a result of testing Hypothesis 5 and Hypothesis 6, it was found that job stress inflenced job burnout and turnover intention. The group with high anxiety (n = 178, mean ≥ 4.230) had a greater effect on job burnout and turnover intention than the group with low anxiety (n = 175, mean < 4.230).

5. Discussion and Conclusions

5.1. Discussion

This study aimed to investigate the effect of job stress of employees on job burnout and turnover intention due to changes in the employment environment of airlines during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, anxiety relating to the current COVID-blues, according to the era of COVID-19, was studied in airline employees using the anxiety scale known as GAD-7. In particular, it is meaningful to examine the difference in the relationships between job stress, job burnout and turnover intention, according to the psychological state of anxiety. The results of this study are summarized as follows:
First, the subject of this study consisted of a high proportion of married men among airline employees, with a high educational background and a high proportion of those in their 40s and 50s. As for the department in charge, in-flight board service and airport service workers accounted for a high proportion, and those with more than 20 years of work experience showed a high percentage. A high percentage of the positions were above the managerial positions, and the income of these was mainly found to be 70 to 90 million won. The ratio of employees of Korean Air was high for airlines. It can be judged that the composition of this sample shows the characteristics of airline employees with a good welfare environment compared to other service industries.
Second, the results of the verification of Hypothesis 1 showed that, among the sub-factors of changes in the employment environment, non-regular position, layoffs and organizational change had a positive (+) effect on job stress, while outsourcing had no effect on job stress. These results support the research on the effect of layoffs on job stress conducted by Park [44] and Lee and Lee [43]. In other words, it was confirmed that organizational change is an important factor that negatively affects job stress. Most airline employees work in an environment where employment is guaranteed, so that they are highly satisfied with their current organizational work. However, organizational changes such as the reduction or consolidation of departments will cause people to deviate from familiar tasks and increase their amount of work, which is expected to increase job stress. Thus, it is judged that, in the case of airline employees, if they are accustomed to the same job for a long time, they feel burdened by new changes or attempts at new changes. In addition, changes in the employment environment, such as honorary retirement and layoffs, were found to increase the job stress of airline employees.
Third, as a result of testing Hypotheses 2 and 3, it was found that job stress had a positive (+) effect on job burnout and turnover intention. These results support the previous studies that the higher the job stress (which shows the structural influence of stress), the higher the job burnout and turnover intention of employees [23,43,54].
Fourth, as a result of the measurement of anxiety (GAD-7), regarding the effect of changes in the employment environment on job stress in Hypothesis 4, the factor causing low anxiety was an increase in temporary positions, while organizational change had a positive (+) effect on job stress. On the other hand, in the group with high anxiety, it was found that temporary positions and layoffs had a positive (+) effect on job stress, and that outsourcing had a negative (-) effect on job stress. These results show that 75% of the respondents to this study who were in their 40s and 50s were high-paid middle managers or in higher positions. Therefore, it is considered that outsourcing decreases the amount of work for these people, and reduces job stress by reducing the number of objects to be managed.
Fifth, the relationship between job stress and job burnout according to GAD-7 of Hypothesis 5 showed that the influence on job burnout increased more in the high group than in the low group. It is judged that the higher the anxiety (GAD-7) of COVID-19, the higher the burnout due to job stress.
Sixth, the relationship between job stress and turnover intention according to GAD-7 of Hypothesis 6 showed that the influence on turnover intention increased more in the high group than in the low group. This suggests that the higher the anxiety (GAD-7) associated with COVID-19, the higher the intention to leave by job stress.
Lastly, we would like to mention the methodology. Although self-reported surveys have some drawbacks, they can save time compared to face-to-face surveys, and allow more honest responses due to the non-face-to-face contact with the researcher. Because the main research variable of this study measured anxiety state, a self-reported questionnaire was conducted to obtain more honest response data about respondents’ subjective thoughts about work-related anxiety.

5.2. Implications

Through the above verification results, the implications of this study are as follows:
First, as an academic implication, this study provides a theoretical basis for the relationship between job stress, job burnout and turnover intention of employees due to changes in the employment environment caused by the airline’s business crisis under the current COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, this study is intended to investigate the difference in the relationship between stress, job burnout and turnover intention by measuring the anxiety disorder of employees in relation to the prolonged presence of COVID-19. The results of this study can offer basic data for human resource managers in the aviation sector to plan strategies and manage their employees.
As a practical implication, it was found that changes in the employment environment of employees had a negative effect on job stress, which resulted in increased employee burnout and turnover intention. Looking at the matter in detail, organizational changes of employees and changes in the employment environment of non-regular workers increases job stress, and therefore human resources managers should minimize job stress by considering the aptitude and job competency of employees in advance as much as possible. In addition, with COVID-19, which is still continuing, and the resulting COVID blues, people are expressing a lot of anxiety not only in their daily lives but also at work. In particular, the anxiety of employees in the aviation industry, which is experiencing severe job insecurity, is more serious than in any other field. Therefore, it is necessary to check the psychological state of airline employees by using the Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) scale, which is also being used on patients in hospitals. Although the current vaccine penetration rate is increasing, the emergence of mutated viruses is highly likely to lead to unplanned leave. This could encourage depression. Therefore, even if airline employees are on leave of absence, it is necessary to manage the quality of service of the employees serving customers at the forefront. In this respect, this study can be said to have laid the foundations for the provision of effective measures to reduce job stress, job burnout and turnover intention of airline employees.

5.3. Limitations and Future Research

Despite the theoretical and practical implications mentioned above, the limitations of this study will be discussed here. First, the anxiety disorder (GAD-7) scale was used based on previous research, in that a psychological scale measuring anxiety specifically relating to COVID-19 has not yet been developed. Therefore, the validity of the scale may be somewhat insufficient. In the future, there is a need to conduct a more in-depth study by using an anxiety psychological development scale for COVID-19. In addition, in this study, only airline employees working in major Korean airlines and foreign airlines were the subjects of study. In future research, it will be necessary to analyze the relationship between job burnout and turnover intention by classifying the factors of job stress in various airlines, including low-cost airlines such as LCC airlines. Lastly, the correlation value between job stress and job burnout was slightly higher than 0.06. This suggests the degree and direction of the relationship between the two independent variables, which shows that the relationship between job stress and job burnout is high. In future research, it is necessary to clarify the causal relationship more clearly by using an appropriate scale based on previous studies to maintain an appropriate level of correlation.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, D.-J.S.; methodology, D.-J.S.; software, D.-J.S. and B.-K.K.; validation, D.-J.S., Y.-S.K. and B.-K.K.; formal analysis, D.-J.S.; investigation, D.-J.S.; resources, D.-J.S.; data curation, Y.-S.K.; writing—original draft preparation, D.-J.S.; writing—review and editing, B.-K.K.; visualization, B.-K.K.; supervision, Y.-S.K. and B.-K.K.; project administration, Y.-S.K.; funding acquisition, Y.-S.K. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This study was supported by the Wonkwang Health Science University in 2021 intramural research grant.

Institutional Review Board Statement

Ethical review and approval were waived for this study, because the Institutional Review Boards of Honam Universilty, Koje College, Wonkwang Heath Science University do not require the full review process for the consumer acceptance research involving BBI and collecting data from exclusively adults who have adequate decision-making capacity to agree to participate.

Informed Consent Statement

Informed consent was obtained from all participants in this study.

Data Availability Statement

Not applicable.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank all supports and reviewers to give good advice to improve this study.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Sustainability 13 13722 g001 550
Figure 1. Research Model.
Figure 1. Research Model.
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Figure 2. GAD-7 Descriptive Statistic.
Figure 2. GAD-7 Descriptive Statistic.
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Figure 3. Path analysis.
Figure 3. Path analysis.
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Table
Table 1. Demographic characteristics of respondents (n = 353).
Table 1. Demographic characteristics of respondents (n = 353).
ClassificationFreauencyPercentage ClassificationFreauencyPercentage
GenderMale26976.2Marital statusMarried27577.9
Female8423.8
Single7822.1
EducationHigh School236.5Age (years)20113.1
307822.1
University/College23065.2
4010429.5
Graduate school10028.3
5016045.3
PositionStaff4312.2Working career (years)Under 3 215.9
3–5 3710.5
Assistant Manager7521.2
5–108122.9
Manager14139.9
15–205716.1
Over deputy General Manager9326.3
Over 2015744.5
Table
Table 2. Results of confirmatory factor analysis of the measurement model.
Table 2. Results of confirmatory factor analysis of the measurement model.
ConstructMeasurement ItemsFactor LoadingS.E.C.R.
Temporary position The number of contract workers is increasing compared to before.0.824
The number of temporary workers is increasing compared to before.0.9680.04824.36
The number of part-time workers is increasing compared to before.0.8940.05121.495
The number of dispatched workers is increasing compared to before.0.8520.05119.83
LayoffsLayoffs have increased significantly.0.71
Involuntary retirements were implemented and increased.0.8890.09714.319
The number of new hires is reducing to prevent the reduction of existing workers.0.7660.09513.136
Organizational ChangeThere is a high possibility that the departments to which I belong will be consolidated.0.812
There is a high possibility that the department to which I belong will be reduced.0.750.08711.741
OutsourcingThe use of outsourcing is increasing compared to the past.0.791
The use of outsourcing will increase in the future.0.8410.09811.937
Job StressI have had conflicting requests from two or more people at work.0.725
I have felt uncomfortable because of the strictness of the relationship with my boss.0.8460.07915.192
There is a possibility that my promotion opportunities will be reduced or lost compared to my performance.0.7740.08713.935
I am sometimes asked to demonstrate abilities (foreign language ability, human relations) that I do not have.0.7430.07313.373
Even if I am treated unfairly, our airline union is unlikely to be of any help.---
Job BurnoutI feel very irritable at work.0.775
After the day’s work is over, I am exhausted mentally and physically.0.8710.06817.253
I feel that the job makes me hard.0.7590.07514.76
I feel that everything is messed up at work.0.8060.07215.824
Turnover IntentionI’m seriously considering quitting my job right now.0.639
I have thought of moving to a new company once.0.8280.11212.194
I also search for job openings from other companies.0.8690.12712.374
GAD-7I feel nervous, anxious or uneasy.0.719
I can’t stop worrying, nor can I control this.0.7250.07613.051
I worry too much about other things.0.790.0814.219
I find it difficult to be comfortable.0.7540.0813.574
I’m so restless it’s hard to sit still.0.7060.08512.712
I get irritable easily.0.6840.07912.31
I am afraid that something terrible is about to happen.0.6840.06812.307
x2 = 2.833(CMIN/DF = 934.982/330, p = 0.000), GFI = 0.912, AGFI = 0.810, IFI = 0.914, TLI = 0.893, CFI = 0.913, RMR = 0.140, RMSEA = 0.072
Table
Table 3. Correlation analysis of constructs and average variance extracted (AVE).
Table 3. Correlation analysis of constructs and average variance extracted (AVE).
Temporary WorkerLayoffsOrganizational ChangeOutsourcingJobstressJob BurnoutTurnover IntentionGAD-7 AVECCR
Temporary Position1(0.307)(0.327)(0.350)(0.251)(0.209)(0.148)(0.144)0.5980.856
Layoffs0.5541(0.292)(0.203)(0.203)(0.250)(0.134(0.067)0.5770.802
Organizational Change0.5720.541(0.134)(0.311)(0.103)(0.030(0.202)0.6750.806
Outsourcing0.5920.450.3661(0.112)(0.081)(0.055(0.144)0.6020.752
Job Stress0.5010.4510.5580.3341(0.486(0.312(0.687)0.5040.802
Job Burnout0.4570.50.3210.2840.6971(0.352(0.453)0.5720.842
Turnover Intention0.3850.3660.1730.2350.5590.5931(0.295)0.5490.782
GAD-70.3790.2590.4490.3790.8290.6730.54310.5170.882
Table
Table 4. Results of hypothesis testing.
Table 4. Results of hypothesis testing.
Structural PathsSt. EstimateS.E.C.R.pHypothesis Test
Entire Model
(n = 353)		Job Stress←Temprary_Worker0.2430.0553.0480.002Supported
Job Stress←Layoffs0.1980.0752.7660.006Supported
Job Stress←OrganizationalChange0.3150.083.873***Supported
Job_Stress←Outsourcing0.0220.0650.3080.758Not supported
Job Burnout←Job Stress0.7290.06610.821***Supported
Turnover Intention←Job Stress0.5860.0668.009***Supported
Goodness-of-fit statistics
χ2 = 663.769, df = 192, p < 0.001, χ2/df = 3.457, RMSEA = 0.084; CFI = 0.907; NFI = 0.875, *** p < 0.000
GAD-7 (Low)
(n = 175)		Job Stress←Temprary_Worker0.4460.1093.529***Supported
Job Stress←Layoffs−0.060.102−0.6840.494Not supported
Job Stress←OrganizationalChange0.1890.0891.9680.049Supported
Job Stress←Outsourcing−0.1370.109−1.2690.205Not supported
Job Burnout←Job Stress0.3530.1043.82***Supported
Turnover Intention←Job Stress0.4760.1064.64***Supported
Goodness-of-fit statistics
χ2 = 461.943, df = 183, p < 0.001, χ2/df = 2.524, RMSEA = 0.094; CFI = 0.871; NFI = 0.807, *** p < 0.000
GAD-7 (High)
(n = 178) 		Job Stress←Temprary_Worker0.4610.0733.0720.002Supported
Job Stress←Layoffs0.730.114.46***Supported
Job Stress←Organizational Change–0.0830.153−0.5190.604Not supported
Job Stress←Outsourcing−0.490.084−3.96***Supported
Job Burnout←Job Stress0.9260.178.659***Supported
Turnover Intention←Job Stress0.6620.1335.687***Supported
Goodness-of-fit statistics
χ2 = 415.937, df = 168, p < 0.001, χ2/df = 2.476, RMSEA = 0.091; CFI = 0.903; NFI = 0.849, *** p < 0.000
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Shin, D.-J.; Kim, Y.-S.; Kim, B.-K. Understanding Job Stress and Organizational Effectiveness of Airline Employees Due to Changes in the Employment Environment under COVID-19—Focusing on the Difference in the GAD-7 of Employees. Sustainability 2021, 13, 13722. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132413722

AMA Style

Shin D-J, Kim Y-S, Kim B-K. Understanding Job Stress and Organizational Effectiveness of Airline Employees Due to Changes in the Employment Environment under COVID-19—Focusing on the Difference in the GAD-7 of Employees. Sustainability. 2021; 13(24):13722. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132413722

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Shin, Dong-Jin, Yeon-Sun Kim, and Bo-Kyeong Kim. 2021. "Understanding Job Stress and Organizational Effectiveness of Airline Employees Due to Changes in the Employment Environment under COVID-19—Focusing on the Difference in the GAD-7 of Employees" Sustainability 13, no. 24: 13722. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132413722

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