Job Satisfaction in the Hospitality Industry: The Comparative Impacts of Work-Life Balance, Intrinsic Rewards, Extrinsic Rewards, and Work Relations

Abstract

Job satisfaction is an extensively researched topic due to its positive outcomes for employers and employees. These include increased performance, productivity, achievement, motivation, and work quality as well as decreased employee absenteeism and turnover. This study examined the impact of work-life balance, intrinsic and extrinsic rewards, and work relations factors on job satisfaction for hospitality industry workers across 37 countries using data from the International Social Survey Program. It is the first large-scale global study on job satisfaction for this industry and the first to discriminate across occupational types within the industry. Given large turnover rates in hospitality jobs, understanding the determinants of job satisfaction is critical to improving management practice and organizational effectiveness. Results reaffirmed the existence of considerable work-life conflicts within the hospitality industry from a global perspective. The role of work relations and work-life balance is much stronger in hospitality jobs than for all occupations in general.