DEAL: International Journal of Economics and Business
Vol. 3 No. 02 (2025): October 2025

Linking Employee Engagement and Employee Retention: The Roles of Job Satisfaction and Work-Life Balance in Manufacturing Industries

Sri Mulyati (Universitas Pelita Bangsa)
Rosma Debi (Universitas Pelita Bangsa)
Andre Lesmana (Universitas Pelita Bangsa)
Pilda Agustin (Universitas Pelita Bangsa)



Article Info

Publish Date
31 Jan 2026

Abstract

This study investigates the influence of employee engagement on employee retention, mediated by job satisfaction and moderated by work-life balance. Employing a quantitative approach with 76 respondents from a manufacturing company in Cikarang, data was collected via questionnaires and analyzed using Partial Least Squares (PLS). Results indicate that employee engagement significantly impacts job satisfaction, and work-life balance significantly affects employee retention. However, the direct influence of employee engagement and job satisfaction on retention, as well as the mediating effect of job satisfaction, were not significant. This finding implies that job satisfaction, although traditionally viewed as a strong predictor of retention, may not always function as a mediator in specific organizational contexts, particularly among operational-level employees, thereby extending the discourse in HRM theory regarding conditional mediating mechanisms. Nevertheless, 85.3% of the variability in employee retention can be explained by these variables. From a managerial perspective, this highlights the importance for firms to prioritize strategies that foster engagement and promote healthy work-life balance, as these factors directly contribute to retention even when job satisfaction does not mediate the relationship. Companies are advised to focus on improving employee engagement and work-life balance to support employee retention. This journal explores how employee engagement and work-life balance influence employee retention in the manufacturing sector, with job satisfaction as a mediator, finding both factors to be important despite the non-significant mediating role of job satisfaction.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

deal

Publisher

Subject

Description

DEAL: International Journal of Economics and Business, published by Pelita Bangsa University. DEAL: International Journal of Economics and Business accommodates the publication of research results in the field of Economics and Business conducted by lecturers as a manifestation of the Tri Darma of ...