When Job Demands Dominate: Rethinking the Buffering Role of Family Support in the JD–R Model Among Migrant Domestic Workers

ABSTRACT: This study examines the effects of workload and work environment on job stress among Indonesian female migrant workers in Taiwan, with family support as a moderator within the Job Demands– Resources (JD–R) framework. Using a quantitative explanatory design, data from 399 purposively selected respondents were analyzed with Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLSSEM). Results show that workload (β = .416, p < .001) and work environment (β = .321, p < .001) significantly increase job stress, with workload as the strongest predictor. Family support has no significant direct effect (β = –.063, p > .05) and does not moderate the relationship between job demands and stress. The model explains 51.3% of the variance in job stress (R² = .513). Findings confirm the JD–R health-impairment process in transnational labor contexts and underscore the importance of structural workplace interventions to enhance migrant workers’ psychological wellbeing.