The Effect of Work-Life Balance and Perceived Organizational Support on Turnover Intention Through Work Engagement in Generation Z Employees : Evidence from the QHSE Department of the Aviation Food Service Industry

Abstract

Generation Z employees are more willing than previous generations to leave jobs that fail to meet their expectations, making their retention a pressing concern in high-pressure operational units. Prior findings on the direct effects of work-life balance (WLB) and perceived organizational support (POS) on turnover intention are inconsistent, and the motivational mechanism linking these resources to turnover intention remains under-examined. Drawing on Social Exchange Theory and the Job Demands-Resources model, this study examines whether work engagement (WE) mediates these effects. Data were collected from all 143 Generation Z employees in the Quality, Health, Safety, and Environment (QHSE) Department of an aviation food service company in Jakarta and analyzed using PLS-SEM (SmartPLS 4.0) with bootstrapping.
The results show that WLB (β = −0.180) and POS (β = −0.234) negatively affect turnover intention, both positively affect WE (β = 0.411 and β = 0.453), and WE negatively affects turnover intention (β = −0.263). WE partially mediates the effects of WLB (indirect β = −0.108) and POS (indirect β = −0.119) on turnover intention. Theoretically, the study shows that a personal domain resource (WLB) and an organizational-domain resource (POS) reduce turnover intention through a common motivational pathway, which helps explain the inconsistent direct effects reported in earlier studies. Practically, organizations seeking to retain Generation Z employees in compliance-intensive units should combine predictable scheduling and adequate recovery time with visible organizational support in order to sustain engagement.