Sustainable Development through CSR in Human Resource Management Practices: The Effects of the Economic Crisis on Job Quality

• Published in: Corporate social-responsibility and environmental management 2018-07, Vol.25 (4), p.441-456
• Main Authors: Martínez‐Garcia, Esther, Sorribes, Joan, Celma, Dolors
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Containment; Corporate responsibility; corporate social responsibility; Economic analysis; economic and financial crisis; Economic crisis; Economics; Employees; Employment; Human resource management; job quality; Personnel management; Quality; Resource scheduling; Social responsibility; Sustainable development; Welfare reform
• ISSN: 1535-3958; 1535-3966
• DOI: 10.1002/csr.1471

This article focuses on sustainable development and human resource management (HRM). It analyzes the effects of the economic crisis on corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the management of employees and its determinants, and also depicts a map of job quality for employees in Spain. Results show that the crisis has not changed the overall pattern or map; neither the characteristics of the firm, the employee, or the job that determine the map. Results also point to the fact that employees at the lower end of CSR in HRM practices have been the most affected by hard cost‐containment measures applied by firms, such as dismissals. Around one‐third of employees have low job quality in nearly all the dimensions analyzed; while two‐thirds have higher job quality, but with variability among dimensions. The analysis is conducted for the years 2006–2010, hence comprising pre‐crisis and amid the crisis years. Cross‐section repeated samples of employees are used, from the Quality of Working Life Survey, which allow us to study the evolution of HRM and CSR. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment