Feeling double locked-in at work : Implications for health and job satisfaction among municipal employees

Objective: The aim of the study was to examine the double locked-in phenomenon at work (i.e., being in a non-preferred occupation and non-preferred work place), and its associations to psychological health, physical health and job satisfaction. Methods: A total of 136 municipal employees who visited a career coaching center (response rate 59%) participated in the questionnaire study. Results: The results showed that 61% of the participants were double locked-in and half of them perceived rather much or very much stress. Multiple regression analyses showed that a feeling of being double locked-in predicted psychological health (GHQ-12) and job satisfaction, even after optimism and perceived stress were controlled for, whereas double locked-in did not predict physical health. Conclusions: This study suggests that the locked-in phenomenon and its underlying causes and consequences need to be studied further in future research. To counteract the negative effects of the double locked-in phenomenon it is important to facilitate employees’ mobility in different ways. Key words: Locked-in at work, health, job satisfaction, optimism, municipal employee