Job satisfaction, life satisfaction, and turnover intent among food-service managers

Abstract A study of more than 400 food-service managers found that well over one-fourth of the respondents intended to leave their position in the near future—with at least half of those planning to depart the food-service business entirely. Even among the managers who were reasonably content with their jobs in the near term, two out of five thought it was unlikely that they'd stay with their company for five years. The top reason given by the respondents for wanting to leave was salary and benefits. Given previous studies of reasons for turnover, the authors examined the extent of a connection between turnover intention and the following factors: job satisfaction, life satisfaction, and interrole conflict, and such demographic variables as age, tenure, race, and gender. Three of those factors had a significant effect on respondents' intent to leave in the short term: intrinsic job satisfaction, life satisfaction, and age. In each case, the higher the value of the variable (more satisfaction, greater age), the less likely the chances of turnover. Satisfaction also played a significant part in expectations of long-term turnover.