Meaningful work on career satisfaction: a moderated mediation model of job embeddedness and work-based social support

Purpose This paper aims to examine a moderated mediation model for answering how and why work meaningfulness influences career satisfaction through job embeddedness as an intervening mechanism. There is also an investigation of how work-based social support from supervisors and co-workers are contingent upon such effect. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 1,137 accountants in various disciplines from one of the largest corporations in Thailand, including its numerous subsidiaries and joint ventures. The hypotheses were tested and analyzed by means of structural equation modeling, hierarchical regression and a bootstrapping procedure. Findings The results reveal that the direct relationship between meaningful work and career satisfaction was partially mediated by job embeddedness. Perceptions of supervisor and co-worker support were found to have moderating effects on meaningful work and job embeddedness. However, the conditional indirect effect was only confirmed for supervisor support. Research limitations/implications The generalizability of the findings may be narrow due to the nature of the sample, which involved only one occupation. Future research may expand the generalizability by considering different vocations, business contexts and industries. Practical implications This study offers important implications to researchers and practitioners by highlighting that an integrative model of organizational factors should be considered in managing human resources. Originality/value This research is among the initial attempts to extend relevant knowledge in the fields of meaningful work and job embeddedness by identifying organizational mechanisms that amplify the structural relationship.