I never know what’s coming next at work! understanding how work unpredictability relates to work well-being via emotional exhaustion and psychological resilience

Work well-being is increasingly recognized as a key concern in contemporary work settings characterized by rapid change and uncertainty. Drawing on Job Demands-Resources theory, this study examines how work unpredictability, as a dynamic job demand, affects employees’ work well-being through a moderated mediation model in which emotional exhaustion serves as a mediator and psychological resilience functions as a moderator. Questionnaire data were collected from 284 financial professionals in China using a cross-sectional design. Results indicate that work unpredictability is negatively associated with work well-being, with the indirect effect via emotional exhaustion being significant. Psychological resilience buffers the effect of emotional exhaustion on work well-being, attenuating the indirect impact of work unpredictability at the second stage of the model. These findings clarify how work unpredictability undermines work well-being and highlight psychological resilience as a stage-specific protective resource. This study contributes to a more nuanced understanding of work well-being in high-uncertainty environments and provides practical guidance for mitigating the negative effects of emotional exhaustion in the financial sector.