Too Skilled, Less Satisfied? Exploring the Mediating Roles of Mental Exhaustion and Work Engagement in Overqualified Workers

A common threat to sustainable work and career experience is perceived overqualification (POQ; having more education, abilities, and talents than the job requires). Overqualified workers may experience lower health, satisfaction, and well-being levels than appropriately qualified workers, with potential subsequent negative long-term impacts on their career sustainability. As organisations must strive to foster decent work and sustainable conditions, we aimed to investigate the factors explaining how overqualification may threaten job satisfaction. We tested work engagement and mental exhaustion as mediators in the POQ-job satisfaction relationship. A sample of 314 workers (79% female; M age 40.30; SD age = 12.12) voluntarily filled an online questionnaire. Our results supported the indirect effect of POQ on job satisfaction via parallel mediation of mental exhaustion and work engagement. As we shed light on the mechanism linking POQ to job satisfaction, we offer insights into how organisations and practitioners can foster healthy workplace conditions and sustainable development.