Title: Mediating role of organisational engagement in generation Y employee retention in the pharmaceutical industry

Authors: Anne Ng; Mohamad Hisyam Selamat

Addresses: Graduate School of Business, SEGi University, Jalan Teknologi, Taman Sains Selangor, Kota Damansara, PJU 5, 47810, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia ' Graduate School of Business, SEGi University, Jalan Teknologi, Taman Sains Selangor, Kota Damansara, PJU 5, 47810, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

Abstract: Generation Y employees form the majority workforce, but retaining and engaging them is challenging as they change jobs more frequently than other generations. This research examines the mediating role of organisational engagement on Gen Y employee retention. Data collected from 308 Gen Y employees were useable and hypothesised relationships were analysed using PLS-SEM method. This study found that psychological empowerment, work-life balance, employee development and knowledge sharing are strong predictors of organisational engagement. Organisational engagement mediates the positive influence of the studied antecedent predictors on Gen Y employee retention, and also emerged as a strong predictor of Gen Y employee retention. PLSpredict assessment revealed high predictive power for organisational engagement, demonstrating that organisational engagement is crucial for Gen Y employee retention, especially during times of change and adversity, considering that this research was carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic when there were dramatic organisation-wide changes in work norms.

Keywords: Gen Y employee retention; psychological empowerment; work-life balance; employee development; knowledge sharing; organisational engagement.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMP.2026.153543

International Journal of Management Practice, 2026 Vol.19 No.3, pp.286 - 313

Received: 22 Aug 2024
Accepted: 19 Sep 2025
Published online: 13 May 2026 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article