Sociocultural adaptation and job satisfaction as mediators between cultural competence and intention to stay among Vietnamese workers in Taiwan

Abstract

This study employs a moderated mediation model to investigate the role of sociocultural adaptation and job satisfaction in the relationship between cultural competence and intention to stay. It also considers the moderating function of local language proficiency and length of residence. A survey was conducted among Vietnamese migrant workers employed in Taiwan’s manufacturing industry under the labour export programme. This resulted in a valid dataset of 636 respondents, which was used to test the proposed hypotheses. The findings demonstrated that sociocultural adaptation and job satisfaction fully mediated the relationship between cultural competence and workers’ intention to stay. Moreover, local language proficiency and length of residence were found to substantially strengthen the positive relationship between cultural competence and sociocultural adaptation, but not to moderate the association between cultural competence and job satisfaction. Theoretically, the study contributes to the literature on psychological and behavioural management by examining how migrant workers’ job satisfaction and sociocultural adaptation are related to the association between cultural competence and intention to stay. Practically, the study addresses current concerns regarding the rate of job retention among migrant workers participating in labour export programmes. Its findings provide policymakers and employers with additional evidence to improve and effectively maintain their foreign labour force. It is recommended that both sending and receiving governments implement appropriate and effective management policies to manage the low-skilled foreign labour force.