It’s Time for a Change: Corporate Restructuring and Unwanted Sexual Attention at Work Among European Workers

Abstract

This article aims to contribute to understanding of the factors influencing workplace sexual violence. This research draws on the literature of gendered organizations and borrows from Job Demands-Resources theory to explore the effects of corporate restructuring on the likelihood of unwanted sexual attention at work. Drawing from data gathered for the 2010 and 2015 European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS), our study examines the correlation between corporate restructuring, working conditions, and workplace unwanted sexual attention in the European labor force (N = 73,717). Our findings suggest that work intensity, physical strain, and job control have a partial mediating effect on the relationship between corporate restructuring and unwanted sexual attention. We also show that women experience worse working conditions in terms of job demands following a restructuring event. This study sheds lights on the repercussions of corporate restructuring and recommends approaches at the organization level to combat the epidemic of sexual harassment.

Keywords: restructuring, sexual harassment, gender, working conditions, European Working Conditions Surveys