Employee’s Motivation and Retention in Textile sector: Evaluating the Role of Occupational Risks and Job Satisfaction in Pakistan

The research examines the principal factors influencing employee motivation and retention within Pakistan's textile industry. The primary survey data was acquired from 498 respondents using convenience sampling through a questionnaire. The explanatory variables include occupational risk (diseases, injury, workplace environmental and psychological factors), job satisfaction (internal and external equity, well-being) among employees, and organizational support. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) employed to diminish the items of factors related to workplace environmental risk, psychological risk, and organizational support. The analysis used linear regression econometric technique to estimate the correlation between explanatory variables and employee’s motivation and retention. The results of Model 1 demonstrate that employee motivation is significantly and negatively impacted by disease risk (β=-0.16), risk of injury (β=-0.227), and psychological risk (β=-0.201), whereas workplace environment risk is negatively correlated having no significant effect. Internal equity (β=0.636) and external equity (β=0.263) significantly and positively influence employee motivation, whereas well-being has a positive but negligible effect, and organizational support has a negative and insignificant effect. The results of Model 2 indicate that employee retention is considerably and negatively impacted by injury risk (β=-0.259) and psychological risk (β=-0.111), while disease risk and workplace environment risk are negatively correlated but not significant. Internal equity (β=0.217), external equity (β=0.144), wellbeing (β=0.085), organizational support (β=0.119), and employee motivation (β=0.907) all significantly and positively correlated with employee retention. The research identifies compensation fairness as the primary motivational driver; nonetheless, it indicates that retention is contingent upon job satisfaction, employee motivation, and comprehensive organizational support which satisfy employees' desires.