Is Job Embeddedness a Resource? Revisiting the Relationship of Job Embeddedness and Employee Well‐Being: A Meta‐Analytic Investigation

ABSTRACT Job embeddedness (i.e., organizational and community factors that explain why employees remain in their organization) is generally regarded as a positive construct. However, a growing body of research suggests that embeddedness may also have detrimental effects on well‐being, particularly when considering nonwork and cross‐domain outcomes. To clarify these relationships, the present meta‐analysis examined the effects of job embeddedness on well‐being through the lens of conservation of resources theory. Based on 133 independent samples from 122 studies ( N = 51 833), the results showed that job embeddedness was generally positively associated with well‐being such as reduced burnout and increased life satisfaction. Importantly, organizational embeddedness exerted relatively stronger effects than community embeddedness, not only on work‐related well‐being but also on nonwork and cross‐domain well‐being. Furthermore, meta‐analytic structural equation modeling revealed that both single‐domain (e.g., job burnout) and cross‐domain (e.g., work–family conflict) well‐being mediated the relationships between job embeddedness and withdrawal. Additionally, through cross‐domain well‐being, organizational embeddedness indirectly and positively influenced voluntary turnover, demonstrating a counterintuitive pattern in how embeddedness shapes actual turnover behavior. Overall, the findings suggest that job embeddedness is generally beneficial for employee well‐being, but its role in retention becomes more complex when well‐being processes are considered.