Factors contributing to job satisfaction and turnover intentions: Analysis of data from 10 Japanese industries

Abstract

Abstract Background While the extant literature has presented various factors underlying employee attitude, researchers may have overestimated the effects by analyzing these factors individually. This study clarified the differences in the factors contributing to job satisfaction and turnover intentions, focusing on 10 factors—eight from the literature (rewarding work, skill acquisition, fair wages, work–life balance, flexible work, office equipment, relationships with superiors, and corporate social responsibility) and two new factors: company philosophy and advanced technology.Methods Following a literature review and hypotheses development, we applied structural equation modeling to online survey data of 1,000 workers employed in 10 industries (automobiles, banking, clothing, cosmetics, electronics, food, government, IT, medical and health care, and retail) in Japan.Results The results showed that these factors (in the given order) have significant positive effects on job satisfaction: rewarding work, work–life balance, company philosophy, and fair wages. Flexible work has a negative effect on job satisfaction, contrary to expectations. Skill acquisition and relationships with superiors have a negative effect on turnover intentions, while advanced technology has a positive effect. Moreover, men emphasize objective factors such as wages and skills, whereas women emphasize psychological factors such as human relationships and an empathetic company philosophy.Conclusions By treating the 10 factors equally, this study showed that the factors contributing to job satisfaction and turnover intentions are different. Furthermore, two new factors—company philosophy and advanced technology—were evaluated in the context of job satisfaction and turnover intentions.