Leaving the Account, Not Just the Organization: Work Strain, Career Growth, and Reward Fairness as Predictors of Turnover Intention in a Philippine BPO Account

Abstract

Employee turnover remains a persistent operational problem in the Philippine Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry, yet many turnover studies continue to treat retention as a broad organizational issue rather than an account-level phenomenon. This study addressed this gap by examining how job stress, organizational commitment, job security, career development opportunities, management support, and compensation and benefits predict turnover intention among employees of a selected BPO account in Angeles City, Pampanga. Anchored on the Job Demands-Resources Theory, Organizational Commitment Theory, Perceived Organizational Support Theory, and Equity Theory, the study employed a quantitative predictive cross-sectional research design. Data were collected from 204 BPO employees and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) through WarpPLS Version 8. The measurement model demonstrated satisfactory reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity, with acceptable factor loadings, Average Variance Extracted (AVE) values ranging from 0.654 to 0.760, composite reliability values ranging from 0.930 to 0.962, and Heterotrait-Monotrait (HTMT) ratios below the recommended threshold of 0.90. The structural model explained 44% of the variance in turnover intention, indicating moderate predictive power. Results revealed that job stress, career development opportunities, and compensation and benefits significantly predicted turnover intention, whereas organizational commitment, job security, and management support did not exhibit significant direct effects. These findings suggest that employees' intention to leave a BPO account is influenced more by immediate work demands, perceived opportunities for career advancement, and fairness of rewards than by general organizational attachment or support. The study contributes an account-level retention model for BPO operations and provides practical evidence for designing targeted retention strategies focused on stress reduction, transparent career pathways, equitable compensation systems, and improved workforce sustainability within the Philippine BPO industry.