An analysis of the moderating effect of vocational calling on the relationship between the working environment and turnover intentions of school meal cooking workers: focusing on the Gyeonggi-do region

Frequent replacement of school food service cooks causes serious operational difficulties. The purpose of this study was to find a way to decrease the turnover rate by exploring the factors affecting the turnover intention, the working environment of school cooks, and the moderating effect of vocational calling. This study was conducted for two weeks, from December 4 to December 17, 2023, using the Google questionnaire method for elementary, middle, and high school cooks in Gyeonggi-do. A total of 230 people participated in this survey. Empirical analysis was conducted on 204 valid questionnaires. The results of this study confirmed that there was a negative effect in the relationship between the working environment and turnover intention. Furthermore, it was found that sense of vocational calling was a moderating effect in the relationship between the working environment and turnover intention. This study identified that school food service workers’ sense of vocational calling was an important factor in mitigating the relationship between working environment and turnover intention. These findings suggest that, to increase employee retention, schools need policies to increase workers’ sense of vocational calling.