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Although organizational change has often been cited as an important cause of workplace bullying, only few studies have investigated this relationship. The current article aims to address this issue by exploring a direct as well as indirect relationship (i.e. mediation by various job and team-related stressors) between organizational change and bullying. Data were collected in 10 private organizations in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium ( N = 1260). Results show a significant relationship between organizational change and bullying. Role conflict, job insecurity, workload, role ambiguity, frequency of conflict, social support from colleagues and social leadership are all related to bullying. Regression analyses reveal a relationship between change and role conflict as well as job insecurity. The other stressors were not associated with organizational change and, hence, do not mediate. Finally, regression analysis shows that the relationship between organizational change and bullying is fully mediated by role conflict and job insecurity.

Karasek defined a stressful job as a job with an imbalance between the demands of the job and the control one can exercise in that job (a `high strain job'). Previous research showed that starters in a high strain job are indeed less satisfied. They are also not compensated for the high workload they face. This article raises the question whether this strain (`high strain job') is only temporary. The results of the duration analysis show that those starting in a high strain job leave their job significantly sooner than those in an `active' job. For many young workers, having a high strain job as the first job seems to be temporary. However, for a substantial segment of the young workforce, there is a considerable probability of remaining in high strain jobs. This finding determines the policy implication: the discussion on work stress should focus on those trapped in high strain jobs.