Examining Turnover Intent Among Young Federal Employees: Organizational Support, Satisfaction, Psychological Safety, and Burnout Interplay

This study examined factors influencing turnover intentions among federal employees under 40 years old, focusing on perceived organizational support, employee satisfaction, psychological safety, and burnout. The theory that grounded this study included the organizational support theory. Structural equation modeling was applied to archival 2022 Office of Personnel Management’s Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey data. Key results revealed strong positive associations between perceived organizational support and employee satisfaction, with both factors significantly negatively related to turnover intentions. Psychological safety and burnout showed statistically significant but small moderation effects, limited by model fit issues and multicollinearity. Unexpectedly, burnout positively associated with employee satisfaction and negatively with turnover intentions, contrary to theoretical expectations. These findings underscore the importance of organizational support and employee satisfaction in retaining younger federal employees. They also highlight potential limitations in current measurements of burnout and psychological safety within the OPM FEVS. Recommendations included refining construct measurements, conducting longitudinal studies, and exploring agency-specific variations. This research contributes to positive social change by potentially informing strategies to enhance job attitudes and reduce turnover among young federal employees. Improved retention could lead to a more stable, experienced federal workforce, potentially enhancing public service delivery and increasing the attractiveness of federal careers to younger generations. These outcomes may ultimately contribute to more effective and efficient government operations, benefiting society at large.