Perceived AI threat, robotic integration, and employee outcomes: the mediating role of job insecurity and the moderating role of perceived organizational resilience

Artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics are transforming organizational processes, yet their implications for employee behavior in emerging economies remain underexplored. Drawing on the Job Demands–Resources (JD–R) model and Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, this study investigates how perceived AI threat and robotic integration relate to turnover intention and counterproductive work behavior (CWB), with perceived job insecurity as a mediator and perceived organizational resilience as a moderating resource. Data were collected from 348 employees of Nigerian manufacturing SMEs and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results show that perceived AI threat is more strongly associated with job insecurity and behavioral outcomes than robotic integration, emphasizing the importance of cognitive appraisal over objective technological exposure. Perceived job insecurity is significantly associated with turnover intention and CWB and mediates the relationships between technological conditions and employee outcomes, supporting the demand–strain process. Moreover, perceived organizational resilience weakens the effects of job insecurity on adverse outcomes, highlighting its role as a contextual job resource. The study extends the JD–R framework by incorporating perception-based technological demands and demonstrating how appraisal processes shape employee responses to digital transformation. The findings provides key implications for future research on resilience-oriented practices.