Level of Retrenchment Anxiety among

Non-Teaching Personnel of Brokenshire

College Toril during the Covid-19
Pandemic

 Mensera, Algirmae

Ortilano, Lovelyn

Lumaad, Sammy

Catubig, Aldrin
 INTRODUCTION

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the novel infectious corona virus disease
(Covid-19) as pandemic on March 11, 2020. It is both global health crisis and an international economic
threat. This global crisis has resulted in scarring effects with its long-term impact on agriculture, industry,
foreign market investment, education, human health, and mental well-being of individuals.

Tyko (2020) validates that shortening of working hours is one of the measures to mitigate the
severity and widespread of the disease. As businesses are not allowed to operate at their previous
capacity, most of them close, which will lead to a widespread of retrenchment and staff lay-offs.
Moreover, Zhou…et al (2020) asserted that this situation will have a negative impact not only on the
individual’s financial capacity due to the loss of income but also affected the normal life and livelihood
leading to stress, anxiety, and fear of losing jobs especially for private sectors employees.
 In Davao region, the Department of Education Region XI announced the closure
of 47 private schools because of the low enrolment brought about by the Covid-19
pandemic, whereas 11 of those private schools were in Davao City. Consequently,
employees from these sectors particularly the faculty and non-teaching personnel
were retrenched and must look for another job to sustain their living (Palo, 2021).

Huang (2020) discussed and revealed the experiences and challenges encountered by
the teachers during the Covid-19 pandemic while there was no research conducted on the
non-teaching personnel’s perspectives. Thus, this study aimed to reveal the views of the
non-teaching personnel particularly in Brokenshire College Toril, Inc. in terms of their
level of retrenchment anxiety to assess the challenges encounter and develop various
means that could benefit both the institution and its stakeholders.
Review of Related Literature

Evolution of Covid-19 in the Philippines

Impact of Covid-19 to Employment, Job Security, and Anxiety
Economic Anxiety
Who is the Most Anxious During Covid-19 Pandemic?
Gender
Age
Marital Status
Theoretical Framework

This study was anchored on the Financial Counseling or Financial

Therapy stems from the system theory that offers a broad look at the
different system in which the individual operates. It is a relatively new
practice which combines therapeutic and financial competencies.
Financial therapy merges finance with emotional support to help people
cope with financial stress. According to Britt et al. (2015), this new
therapy methods aimed at both stress and actual financial relief.
Conceptual Framework

DEMOGRAPHIC RETRENCHMENT
PROFILE ANXIETY

Independent Variable Dependent Variable

Statement of the Problem

1. What is the demographic profile of the respondent in terms of:

a. Gender
b. Age
c. Educational Attainment
d. Civil Status
e. No. of Household Members
2. Is there a significant difference on the level of retrenchment anxiety among non-teaching
personnel during the covid-19 pandemic when grouped in terms of their demographic profiles?
Scope and Limitation of the Study

The scope of this study were the non-teaching personnel of

Brokenshire College Toril, Inc. The researchers were not able to reach
out to the non-teaching personnel of the neighboring private schools due
to time constrain and unavailability of contact persons. Moreover, this
limitation was set due to the current situation and strict IATF guidelines
on mass gathering.
 METHODOLOGY
Research Design
The researchers utilized quantitative approach, descriptive comparative research design—a wide variety of
research methods to investigate one or more variables. In this study the level of retrenchment anxiety of the
non-teaching personnel were compared according to demographic profiles.

Respondents
Respondents of the study were the non-teaching personnel of Brokenshire College Toril, Inc (n=33).

Sampling Design
The sampling design used in the study were purposive and convenience sampling technique where the
researchers think that the group fitted the profile need to be reached with little efforts to approach the
respondents to answer the survey.
Research Instrument
The researchers utilized 2-part self-constructed survey questionnaire. First part contains the demographic
profile and the later contains 10-item questions on the level of retrenchment anxiety using frequency scales: 5-
always, 4- often, 3-sometimes, 2-rarely, 1-never.

Data Gathering Procedure

The researchers personally handed the survey questionnaires to the respondents and assisted them by
translating some English and unfamiliar terms and phrases used into Bisaya dialect for better understanding.
After which, questionnaires were retrieved, encoding of the responses was made and was forwarded to the
statistician for analysis and interpretations.

Data Analysis
In determining the demographic profile of the respondents, percentage and frequency distribution were
used. While on determining the significant difference and variance on the level of retrenchment anxiety when
grouped according to their demographic profiles, t-test and ANOVA were used.
 RESULTS, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
A. Demographic Profile of the Respondents

Gender No. of Household Members

Cumulative
Cumulative
  Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent
  Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent
Valid 1--4 members 17 51.5 51.5 51.5
Valid Male 17 51.5 51.5 51.5
5-9 members 10 30.3 30.3 81.8
Female 16 48.5 48.5 100.0 10-14 members 3 9.1 9.1 90.9
Total 33 100.0 100.0   15-20 members 3 9.1 9.1 90.9
         
Civil Status Total 33 100.0 100.0  

  Frequency Percent Valid Percent

Cumulative
Percent
Educational Attainment
Valid Single 8 24.2 24.2 24.2 Cumulative

Married 25 75.8 75.8 100.0   Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent

Total 33 100.0 100.0   Valid Elementary Level/Graduate 2 6.1 6.1 6.1

High School Level/Graduate 8 24.2 24.2 30.3
Age College Level/Graduate 20 60.6 60.6 90.9
Cumulative Postgraduate
3 9.1 9.1 9.1
  Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent Level/Graduate
Valid 20-30 years old 10 30.3 30.3 30.3          
31-40 years old 15 45.5 45.5 75.8 Total 33 100.0 100.0  
41-50 years old 5 15.2 15.2 90.9
51-60 years old 3 9.1 9.1 100.0
Total 33 100.0 100.0  
B. Significant Difference of Retrenchment Anxiety when Grouped According to Demographic
Profiles

 
Gender N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean
Note: Not significant because Sig is greater
Ret_Anx_Lev Male
17 3.7824 .94686 .22965 than α = .05. This means that responses on
Female
16 3.8000 .76681 .19170 anxiety level of the respondents do not vary
according to gender. Results contradicted the
Levene's Test for recent study by Limcaoco et al. (2020) in 25
Equality of
Variances t-test for Equality of Means countries on susceptibility to stress during the
Std. 95% Confidence
Mean Error Interval of the   COVID‐19 situation which indicated that women
Sig. (2- Differen Differen Difference
report greater levels of stress. Similar gender
  F Sig. t df tailed) ce ce Lower Upper  
Ret_Anx_Lev Equal variances
.295 .591 -.059 31 .954 -.01765 .30110 -.63174 .59644   differences for stress, anxiety, and depression
assumed
Equal variances
     
symptoms were found by Wang et al. (2020) in
-.059 30.349 .953 -.01765 .29915 -.62829 .59299
not assumed
a Chinese sample during the initial stage of the
COVID‐19 outbreak.
 Subset for alpha = 0.05
Age N 1
41-50 years old 5 3.3600
  Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
31-40 years old 15 3.4867
Between Groups 51-60 years old 3 4.2667
5.795 3 1.932 3.225 .037
20-30 years old 10 4.3200
Within Groups
17.372 29 .599     Sig.   .245
Means for groups in homogeneous subsets are displayed.
Total
23.167 32       a. Uses Harmonic Mean Sample Size = 5.714.
b. The group sizes are unequal. The harmonic mean of the group sizes is used. Type I error
levels are not guaranteed.
95% Confidence Interval
Mean Difference
(I) Age (J) Age (I-J) Std. Error Sig. Lower Bound Upper Bound Note: Analysis reveals that anxiety level may vary
20-30 years old 31-40 years old .83333 .31597 .096 -.1041 1.7708
41-50 years old .96000 .42392 .187 -.2977 2.2177 according to age. As shown, younger respondents
51-60 years old .05333 .50949 1.000 -1.4582 1.5649
31-40 years old 20-30 years old -.83333 .31597 .096 -1.7708 .1041 had higher anxiety levels as compared to the older
41-50 years old .12667 .39968 .992 -1.0591 1.3124
51-60 years old -.78000 .48950 .480 -2.2323 .6723
respondents. Result is supported by Archer et al.
41-50 years old 20-30 years old -.96000 .42392 .187 -2.2177 .2977
(2015) that stress levels tend to decrease with age
31-40 years old -.12667 .39968 .992 -1.3124 1.0591
51-60 years old -.90667 .56523 .474 -2.5836 .7703 and although older adults report poorer perceived
51-60 years old 20-30 years old -.05333 .50949 1.000 -1.5649 1.4582
31-40 years old .78000 .48950 .480 -.6723 2.2323 health, they have lower stress level and higher
41-50 years old .90667 .56523 .474 -.7703 2.5836
well-being than young adults. Similarly, studies
generally support the notion that older people are
less affected by stressors and anxiety than younger
people (Feizi et al., 2012).
  Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
Between Groups
6.644 4 1.661 2.815 .044

Within Groups
16.523 28 .590     Note: Anxiety level may vary according to educational
Total
23.167 32       attainment. There is a tendency that the lower the
educational attainment, the higher the anxiety level. This is
Education Mean N Std. Deviation
in comparison between High School and College Level
Elementary Level/Graduate
2.7500 2 1.06066

High School Level/Graduate

Graduate. This is still inconclusive due to the lower
4.4125 8 .65124

College Level/Graduate
3.6450 20 .79834
number of respondents.
Post Graduate
3.4000 2 .56569

5.00
4.6000 1 .

Total
3.7909 33 .85087
 

Civil_Status N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean

Ret_Anx_Lev Single
8 4.2000 .60710 .21464

Married
25 3.6600 .88553 .17711
Note: Anxiety level does not vary according to
civil status. No significant difference as Sig is
Levene's Test for
greater than α = .05. Result contradicted
Equality of
Variances t-test for Equality of Means
Archuleta et al. (2011) that when couples
Std. 95% Confidence
 
Sig. (2-
Mean
Differen
Error
Differen
Interval of the
Difference
encounter difficulties such as financial
   
Ret_Anx_Lev Equal variances
F Sig. t df tailed) ce ce Lower Upper
hardships may experience a pronounced
.982 .329 1.600 31 .120 .54000 .33750 -.14833 1.22833  
assumed
Equal variances
decrease in marital satisfaction which can lead
    1.941 17.421 .069 .54000 .27828 -.04603 1.12603  
not assumed
in anxiety and greater level of stress.
  Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
Between Groups
1.314 4 .328 .421 .792

Within Groups
21.853 28 .780     Note: No significant difference in anxiety level according to
Total
23.167 32       number of household members. Sig is greater than α = .
05. The result contradicted Jacob et al. (2019) and Cohen
Num_Fam Mean N Std. Deviation & Wills (1985) that living with a smaller number of
1--4 members
3.6882 17 .91370
household members has the higher indices of depression
5-9 members
3.8400 10 .89219

10-14 members
and anxiety and might experience more stress due to than
4.3667 3 .77675

15-20 members
3.8000 1 .
those living with people with larger number of household
5.00
3.5500 2 .35355 members who may be a source of potential support.
Total
3.7909 33 .85087
Conclusion

Most of the respondents experienced higher level of retrenchment

anxiety during Covid-19 pandemic regardless of their demographic
profiles. It was evident that age and educational attainment may vary
and affected their level of retrenchment anxiety. Nevertheless, it might
be inconclusive due to the limited number of respondents. On the other
hand, there is no significant difference on the level of retrenchment
anxiety in terms of gender, civil status, and number of household
members.
Recommendations

Private companies particularly private schools need to have a clear retrenchment and lay-off plans,
policies, and guidelines incorporated on its employees’ manual that would serve as a basis for actions
related to unpredictable crisis and pandemics so that employees may also be aware of the possible
actions and arrangements to be made by the administrators.

 Economically wise, private sector employees may not only rely on a single source of income
rather look for alternatives to generate passive income without compromising the duties and
responsibilities in the workplace.

 Future researchers may conduct further studies on retrenchment anxieties during covid-19
pandemic considering various factors and variables.
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