Work alienation among labor dispatch workers in the financial industry: A Study in Shaanxi Province, China

Work alienation is an important problem faced by labor dispatch workers, as they are alienated and experience injustice in the present work system. The present research aims to identify the impact of work ostracism and organizational injustice on work alienation, as measured through a research conducted among 601 employees of the financial sector in Shaanxi, China, using a structural equation model. The mediating role of relative deprivation and emotional exhaustion, and the moderating role of psychological resilience, are also explored. The research findings suggest that work ostracism, along with the three dimensions of organizational injustice, sequentially predicts work alienation. The mediating role of relative deprivation and emotional exhaustion is also identified, as both factors sequentially mediate work ostracism, organizational injustice, and work alienation. Additionally, psychological resilience is identified as a moderator that buffers the outcomes of relative deprivation-work alienation and emotional exhaustion-work alienation. Theoretical contribution of the present research is identified as an understanding of work alienation through non-standard employment relationships, mediated through the dynamics of resource depletion. Practical contribution of the present research is identified as multi-fold, as it provides a variety of interventions at different levels to address the problems faced by organizations due to work ostracism, organizational injustice, relative deprivation, emotional exhaustion, and low psychological resilience.