Burnout and Beyond: Exploring How Work Environment, Self-Efficacy, and Emotional Exhaustion and Job Security Drive Quitting Intentions Among Newly Recruited Teachers in Sindh, Pakistan

Abstract

Turnover among teachers has become an escalating issue globally, including in Pakistan, where a severe shortage of qualified teachers characterizes a struggling educational system. To counter the shortage, the government hired a large pool of qualified teachers for schools through a merit-based recruitment drive, but the newly recruited teachers also showed intent to leave their jobs. Therefore, based on the Banudura (1981) self-efficacy theory (SET), the present study aims to investigate the influence of work environment (WE) and self-efficacy (SE) to predict the intention to quit (ITQ) through the mediation of emotional exhaustion (EE) among newly recruited teachers in Sindh, Pakistan. The present study also explored the moderating role of job security (JS) to examine the ITQ. The study employed a quantitative-cross-sectional research design. Data were collected purposively from 218 newly recruited teachers working in various cities in Sindh, Pakistan—statistical software packages include SPSS 24 and Smart PLS 4 for descriptive statistics and hypothesis testing. The findings show that positive WE with high SE has a negative significant relationship with EE, further lowering the ITQ. In addition, EE mediates the relationship between WE, SE, and ITQ, while JS moderates the link between EE and ITQ, explaining that school teachers with high JS are less likely to quit their jobs despite high EE. The study offers various theoretical perspectives under the umbrella of SET to understand ITQ among teachers and also proposes practical insights to improve teacher retention through specific interventions to de-escalate the rising issue.