Night Work and Organizational Support: Interviews with Workers in a Printing Industry

Abstract

Perceived organizational support refers to the material and psychosocial support offered to workers who have an employment relationship with a company. The perception of support can be altered when employees perform their work activities on the night shift, which has specificities such as the fact that it is executed at the opposite time to the organization’s management. This research aimed to characterize night work and night shift workers’ perceived organizational support in a printing industry. Seven night shift workers answered a socio-demographic questionnaire and an individual interview, which its content was analyzed. The consequences of working in the night shift pointed were lower income and difficulty in resting. The lack of formal leaders in this work shift was noticeable, as they are the main actors responsible for representing the company and providing organizational support. Few benefits and actions aimed at workers from the organization have been identified, which minimizes the perceived lack of organizational support among participants. This study highlights workers who often do not receive the same attention from human resources managers and need to adapt themselves to the actions developed by the company.