Decent Work and Turnover Intentions Among Chinese Millennials: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract

Turnover among millennial employees is frequent and is more common when work is not considered decent. Nevertheless, the potential reasons for why decent work attainment links with millennials’ turnover intentions deserves further exploration. Grounded in the psychology of working theory and social exchange theory, the current research explored the roles of overall well-being and perceived career opportunity in the relation between decent work and turnover intentions. Through an analysis of three-wave data obtained from 327 millennials in China, we found that decent work was indirectly related to turnover intentions via overall well-being, and that perceived career opportunity served as an important moderator in this relation. The results suggest that millennials who perceive their work as indecent may have greater turnover intentions in part because they are less satisfied with their lives. This relation is even stronger when they perceive few career opportunities in their current job.