The impact of COVID-19 on turnover intention among hotel employees: A moderated mediation model

This study examines the influence of COVID-19 event strength on the turnover intention of hotel employees by incorporating perceived operating performance and job insecurity as mediators and hotel size as a moderator. A moderated mediation model was employed to test the relationship between COVID-19 event strength and turnover intention. The study reveals that COVID-19 event strength might not significantly affect turnover intention through perceived operating performance, likely affecting job insecurity perception. We infer that such a finding might result from a series of policies implemented by authorities to prevent job insecurity perception of hotel employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, we also reveal that small-and middle-sized hotels mitigate the effect of job insecurity on turnover intention somewhat different from our expectations. We infer that most of the entrepreneurs and employees in such hotels are from the same town and unlikely to intensify the effect of job insecurity on turnover intention because of close friendships among them. This finding is closely related to cultural factors in China and has rarely been discussed in the existing literature.

Automated summary

This study examines how the strength of the COVID-19 pandemic affects the turnover intention of hotel employees, with perceived operating performance and job insecurity as mediators and hotel size as a moderator. The results suggest that the impact of COVID-19 event strength on turnover intention may not be significant through perceived operating performance, but it is likely to influence employees' perception of job insecurity. The study also reveals that small- and middle-sized hotels have a different effect on mitigating the influence of job insecurity on turnover intention, possibly due to cultural factors in China.