Examining work role stressors, job satisfaction, job stress, and turnover intention of Sri Lanka’s construction industry

Construction organizations in Sri Lanka are confronted with employee retention challenges, while many important factors affecting retention have not been fully understood. Hence, the present study examined the relationship between work role stressors, job satisfaction, job stress, and turnover intention in Sri Lanka’s construction industry. The study further addressed the mediating role of job satisfaction on the relationship between work role stressors and job stress, a less explored area in the literature. Questionnaires collected from 308 project-level staff of ten large contractors were used in the study. The findings illustrate that role ambiguity and role conflict directly influenced job satisfaction, while job satisfaction, role conflict, and work-family conflict directly predicted job stress. The results further supported the mediating role of job satisfaction on the relationship between role ambiguity and job stress and the relationship between role conflict and job stress, indicating indirect effects from role ambiguity and role conflict to job stress. Job satisfaction and job stress were identified as direct antecedents of turnover intention. Besides, role ambiguity, role conflict, and work-family conflict contributed to the turnover intention as work role stressors, with job satisfaction and job stress acting as mediators. Implications of the findings are also discussed.