Exploration of Factors Influencing Intention to Leave: Indonesian Professional Working in Qatar Case

Abstract

This study explores job and life satisfaction factors influencing intention to leave, including life satisfaction as moderation role for Indonesian professionals working and living in Qatar. The quantitative job and life satisfaction questionnaire was used to test research hypotheses using Structural Equation Mode. Herzberg's Two-Factor for job satisfaction and Clayton Alderfer's ERG Theory for life satisfaction contain 26 factors with seven Likert scale. Motivators include reward, promotion, work nature, and personal growth, while hygiene factors include pay, working conditions, supervisors, coworkers, workloads, operating conditions, and job security. Existence shows health, environment, housing, and finances. Friends, family, community, leisure, and social status reflect relatedness. Spirituality, culture, and family education indicate growth. 292 participants, with 92.1% above 40 years old and having lived in Qatar for more than 10 years (77.5%) at the same job position (43.8%), participated in the study. The model shows that hygiene factors moderately negatively correlate with job satisfaction, while motivators strongly positively correlate. Selected factors addressed most factors of job satisfaction, excluding operating conditions and job security. Existence needs strongly positively correlate with life satisfaction, while growth needs are not significantly correlated. An unexpected negative correlation exists between relatedness and life satisfaction. Selected factors under existence, relatedness, and growth only explain 1.5% of life satisfaction variation, indicating that other factors are also important but are not taken into account. Job and life satisfaction negatively correlate with intention to leave, while life satisfaction significantly adversely moderates the relationship between both of them, suggesting that attempting to make people happy may help them stay at their jobs when they're unhappy. Other findings show that people are highly satisfied with current pay and financial stability but moderately satisfied with promotion, reward, and future pay increases and financial security. Therefore, improving future finances can make people happier and keep them from quitting their jobs.