We construct different indicators of the impression of job security for 23 OECD countries based on the 1999 European Panel and the 1997 ISSP (International Social Survey Programme) Work Orientations survey. These indicators are then compared with composite measurements of the characteristics of the institutions operational on these countries' labour markets. A negative correlation is found between the impression of job security and the OECD indicator on the rigour of employment protection legislation. Moreover, this feeling of job security is positively correlated with the OECD indicator on the generosity of the unemployment benefit systems. The interpretations that could be put forward for these findings remain speculative. However, they appear to suggest that employment protection, as conceived in the continental European countries and as measured by the OECD indicator, is not a good safeguard against the impression of job insecurity. However, unemployment insurance would appear to play this protective role.