The mediating role of job stress on the relationship between job satisfaction facets and turnover intention of the construction professionals

Purpose The present study examines the mediating role of job stress on the relationship between job satisfaction facets and turnover intention of the construction project professionals in Sri Lanka. Design/methodology/approach Data were gathered from a cross-sectional survey of 274 project-level employees of 10 construction organizations in Sri Lanka. A path analytical model is developed to assess the research hypotheses. Findings Results support the mediation model of job stress, in which satisfaction with supervision and job security directly contributed to a reduction in stress levels, which in turn lessened the turnover intention. Full mediation is observed from supervision, and partial mediation is observed from job security. Satisfaction with pay and co-workers directly predicted a decline in turnover intention. Contrary to the authors' expectations, the authors could not find any significant effect from promotion to job stress and promotion to turnover intention. The results further illustrated that demographic variables, i.e. gender, age and organization tenure play a role in determining employees' stress levels. Originality/value In identifying how job satisfaction facets, job stress and turnover intention are linked together, the present study added the mediating role of job stress to the previous empirical research on the relationship between job satisfaction facets and turnover intention.