A study on the impact of role stress on engineer intention to leave in Indian construction firms

Construction jobs are stressful, and high employee turnover is one of the significant issues affecting the growth and development of construction firms worldwide. This study examines the relationship between role stress and intentions to leave, as well as the role of emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction as mediators in the role stress and intention to leave of engineers working in the construction sector. The sample of this study consists of three hundred and sixty engineers working in private construction firms across southern parts of India. The relationship between the study variables is examined using structural equation modeling. The result of the study reveals a significant positive relationship between role conflict and intention to leave, whereas the direct relationship between role ambiguity, role overload, and intention to leave is not significant. In terms of mediation, emotional exhaustion plays a significant mediator between all the components of role stress and intention to leave. At the same time, the role of job satisfaction is significant only between role ambiguity and intention to leave. Role ambiguity negatively influences job satisfaction, subsequently increasing engineers’ turnover intention. Emotional exhaustion caused due to role stress is identified as one of the significant predictors of engineers’ intention to leave. Thus, construction organizations should focus on redesigning construction jobs to reduce role stress and emotional exhaustion to retain engineers working with them.