Promotion, Not Pay: Antecedents of Turnover Intention among Generation Z Employees of Multinational Corporations in India

Abstract

Purpose: The generation Z (Gen Z) employee is more likely to change jobs than the generation Y or X employee, and the relative importance of the factors that influence their intention to leave is not known. This study examines which employee, organisational and work-related characteristics have a unique effect on the turnover intention of Gen Z employees of multinational corporations (MNCs) in India.

Design/methodology/approach: A survey of 446 full-time Gen Z employees (born 1997 or later) of MNCs in six sector groups and six metropolitan hubs in India was conducted using fourteen validated scales. Eleven antecedents were tested simultaneously at once with a fourteen factor confirmatory factor analysis and a latent structural equation model estimated by robust maximum likelihood with the control of job satisfaction, organisational commitment, and demographic variables.

Findings: The model accounted for 47.9 per cent of the variance of turnover intention. Promotional opportunities had the highest unique effect, as the negative affectivity (β = 0.120, p = .006) and role conflict (β = 0.108, p = .020) increased turnover intention. Pay satisfaction, benefits satisfaction, job security, resource adequacy, role ambiguity, job involvement, and supervisor and coworker support were correlated with turnover intention, but failed to have a unique direct effect. Results were strong in both alternate specifications and there was no difference between sectors, city, work arrangement or gender in terms of turnover intention.

Research limitations/implications: Causal inference is limited because the study was a cross sectional, self-reported design, and longitudinal designs that connect intentions to actual exits are recommended.

Practical implications: MNCs should ensure that promotion criteria are clearly communicated and career paths are clearly defined, minimize conflicting role demands, provide support for the well-being of employees, and ensure that pay and security are seen as floor requirements and not as main drivers for retention.

Originality/value: It is an integrated latent variable test of eleven antecedents of turnover intention for Gen Z employees in MNCs in India, where there is little quantitative literature.