Job Insecurity and Turnover Intention: Exploring the Moderating Effect of Job Performance

Job insecurity has detrimental consequences for employees and organizations, so it is vital to identify variables that could buffer against the negative effects of job insecurity. Using hierarchical regression analysis, this study firstly examined the discrepant effects of quantitative job insecurity and qualitative job insecurity on turnover intention, and then examined the moderating effect of job performance on the relation between job insecurity and turnover intention. Data collected from 314 Chinese employees indicated that: (1) Qualitative job insecurity was a significant positive predictor of turnover intention, while quantitative job insecurity did not have any effect on turnover intention. (2) Job performance was a significant negative predictor of turnover intention. (3) The positive relationship between qualitative insecurity and turnover intention was enhanced as the level of job performance increased. Finally, some implications of these findings for the management practice were also discussed.