Leave or not to leave? the impact of managerial work-life support and work engagement on the outcomes of work-to-life conflict for China’s new generation employees

Abstract

This paper explores how work engagement and managerial work-life support can influence the relationship between work-to-life conflict and turnover intention for China’s new generation employees. Drawing on job demand-resources (JD-R) theory and time-lagged survey data, we developed a moderated mediation model which reveals the mediating effect of work engagement on the relationship between work-to-life conflict and turnover intention, and the moderation effect of managerial work-life support on the relationship between work-to-life conflict and work engagement. The findings show that work engagement serves as a personal resource for new generation employees to buffer the negative impact of work-life conflict on turnover intention, and managerial work-life support serves as a key job resource to influence the mediating effect of work engagement when work-life conflict occurs. Research contributions, implications, and limitations are discussed.