Perceived Organizational Support, Employee Resilience, and Sustainable Employability in Higher Education Institutions: A Cross-Sectional Latent Indirect-Effects Model

Higher education institutions must sustain employees’ capacity and motivation amid organizational change. This study examined cross-sectional associations among perceived organizational support (POS), employee resilience, and sustainable employability in 202 university employees in Lima, Peru. Participants completed translated self-report measures. Following a measurement audit, POS was represented by a reduced unidimensional 10-item factor, resilience by nine items, and sustainable employability by a second-order factor reflected by productivity, workplace social climate, work control, and self-efficacy. Weighted least squares mean- and variance-adjusted latent-variable modeling showed acceptable fit, scaled chi-square (621) = 1330.81, CFI = 0.968, TLI = 0.965, RMSEA = 0.075, and SRMR = 0.080. POS was associated with resilience (beta = 0.469) and sustainable employability (beta = 0.374), while resilience was associated with sustainable employability (beta = 0.498). The indirect association through resilience was significant (B = 0.353, 95% Monte Carlo CI [0.209, 0.519]; beta = 0.234), and the direct association remained significant too, suggesting partial complementary mediation. Sensitivity analyses that excluded a productivity item with ceiling effects, used robust maximum likelihood, and added demographic controls led to the same conclusion. Since the data are cross-sectional and self-reported, the results are consistent but do not show a temporal or causal mediation process.