When Job Demands Dominate: Rethinking the Buffering Role of Family Support in the JD–R Model Among Migrant Domestic Workers

This study examines the effects of workload and work environment on job stress among Indonesian female migrant workers in Taiwan, with family support as a moderator within the Job Demands– Resources (JD–R) framework. Using a quantitative explanatory design, data from 399 purposively selected respondents were analyzed with Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLSSEM). Results show that workload (β = .416, p < .001) and work environment (β = .321, p < .001) significantly increase job stress, with workload as the strongest predictor. Family support has no significant direct effect (β = –.063, p > .05) and does not moderate the relationship between job demands and stress. The model explains 51.3% of the variance in job stress (R² = .513). Findings confirm the JD–R health-impairment process in transnational labor contexts and underscore the importance of structural workplace interventions to enhance migrant workers’ psychological wellbeing.