Job insecurity and psychological distress during the COVID-19 outbreak: The moderating role of perceived supervisor support among hotel employees in Malaysia

BACKGROUND: Millions of employees were laid off during the COVID-19 pandemic. The hospitality industry has been gravely hit by this crisis.

OBJECTIVE: Drawing from the theory of conservation of resources (COR), our study aims to examine possible factors that influence turnover intention among hotel employees.

METHODS: The hypotheses were tested on 141 hotel employees from Klang Valley, Malaysia. Data were collected by means of questionnaires, purposive sampling was employed, and PLS-SEM was used in performing the data analyses.

RESULTS: Job insecurity and psychological distress were found to be the potent antecedent of turnover intention. In contrast, the role of perceived supervisor support did not significantly moderate the effects of both job insecurity and psychological distress on the quitting intention.

CONCLUSION: Re-looking at existing policies and leadership styles may be fruitful in ensuring the sustainability path of an organization. This is pivotal in growing back the entire hospitality industry that has gravely affected by COVID-19.