Retention of protean-oriented Chinese millennial employees: A mixed-method study

Abstract

China's rapid economic growth, cultural development, and technological advances altered millennial career expectations, challenging organisational talent management and career sustainability. This study examined Chinese millennials' career preferences by testing a conceptual model that linked career adaptability to turnover intention via protean career orientation. It investigated whether protean career orientation, internal and external employability, and internal career success acted as mediators, with perceived organisational support as a moderator. Using a mixed-methods approach, the research included a two -wave quantitative survey of 715 employees and qualitative interviews with 34 individuals from the e commerce and financial sectors. The findings showed that heightened career adaptability led to a protean career orientation, which indirectly affected career success and turnover intentions through perceived employability. Perceived organisational support moderated the relationship between perceived employability and turnover intention, enhancing retention but also increasing turnover intentions when better external opportunities arose. Qualitative data emphasised the importance of intrinsic motivations and supportive environments in reducing turnover intentions among protean-oriented millennials. Additionally, through psychological contracts and career ecosystem perspectives, the study compared and analysed the different motivations and specific priorities of millennial employees across gender, career stages, organisations, and levels of turnover intention, providing a more dynamic career construction process. The study highlighted the significance of organisational support and personal autonomy in career development, offering practical strategies for improving employee retention and satisfaction through career flexibility and skill development in China's evolving work environment. This research provided insights into millennial career motives and offered effective retention techniques, contributing valuable knowledge for talent management

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Identifiers

ORCID for Yihui Lin: orcid.org/0000-0003-2279-7295

ORCID for Yehuda Baruch: orcid.org/0000-0002-0678-6273

ORCID for Jane Parry: orcid.org/0000-0001-7101-2517

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