The effect of job satisfaction and moonlighting intentions with mediating and moderating effects of commitment and HR practices an empirical study

Abstract

Moonlighting as a practice, the limelight was gained during the COVID-19 pandemic due to remote work involving flexible work, which saved employees’ commuting time to the office and has become a potential source of income for individuals seeking other jobs. The authors examined the phenomenon of moonlighting by assessing the relationships between job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and moonlighting intentions. The authors also examined the mediating effects of employee organizational commitment and economic intentions and the moderating role of human resource practices on the relationship between job satisfaction and moonlighting intentions. The data were gathered for five reflective constructs of this empirical study—job satisfaction, organizational commitment, human resources practices, economic intentions, and moonlighting intentions—by surveying IT-enabled industry employees in Hyderabad. The data from 311 valid responses were subjected to structural equation modeling analysis using IBM AMOS version 28. The model-fit indices from SEM analysis indicate excellent model fit. The structural model from SEM analysis reveals that 50% of the variance in moonlighting is accounted for by job satisfaction and organizational commitment. The factor of job satisfaction is statistically significant and influences the moonlighting intentions of employees in IT-enabled industries. Job satisfaction has a positive impact on organizational commitment, and when organizational commitment increases, moonlighting intentions decrease. Organizational commitment partially mediates moonlighting intentions through job satisfaction. The study also assessed the moderating role of human resource practices on the relationship between job satisfaction and moonlighting intentions. The moderation analysis results reveal statistically significant and positive moderating effects of human resource practices on intentions to moonlight through job satisfaction. The slope analysis indicated that human resource practices strengthen the positive relationship between job satisfaction and moonlighting.