Makara Human Behavior Studies in Asia

Volume 27 Number 1 Article 4

April 2023

Investigating the Effects of Work-Family Conflict on Turnover

Intention of ICT Employees in Malaysia
Lai Meng Lee
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Kampar, Perak 31900, Malaysia, lmlee@utar.edu.my

Su Wan Gan
Department of Psychology and Counselling, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Perak 31900, Malaysia,
gansuwan@gmail.com

Yong Sheng Chia

Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Kampar, Perak 31900, Malaysia, nickjordan.cys@1utar.my

Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarhub.ui.ac.id/hubsasia

Part of the Industrial and Organizational Psychology Commons

Recommended Citation
Lee, L., Gan, S., & Chia, Y. (2023). Investigating the Effects of Work-Family Conflict on Turnover Intention of
ICT Employees in Malaysia. Makara Human Behavior Studies in Asia, 27(1), 28-36. https://doi.org/
10.7454/hubs.asia.1131022

This Original Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Universitas Indonesia at UI Scholars Hub. It
has been accepted for inclusion in Makara Human Behavior Studies in Asia by an authorized editor of UI Scholars
Hub.

Investigating the Effects of Work-Family Conflict on Turnover Intention of ICT
Employees in Malaysia
Menyelidiki Efek Konflik Pekerjaan-Keluarga terhadap Intensi Turnover Karyawan ICT di
Malaysia
Lai Meng Lee1, Su Wan Gan2*, & Yong Sheng Chia1
1. Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Kampar, Perak 31900, Malaysia
2. Department of Psychology and Counselling, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Kampar, Perak 31900, Malaysia
Original Article
*Correspondence Author:
Su Wan Gan
E-mail: gansuwan@gmail.com
Received: 05 July 2022
Revised: 12 October 2022
Accepted: 13 October 2022
Keyword: Work-Family conflict,
Turnover intention, ICT employees
Cite this article: Lee, L.M., Gan, S.W., &
Chia, Y.S. (2022). Investigating the effects
of work-family conflict on turnover intention
of ICT employees in Malaysia. Makara
Human Behavior Studies in Asia, 27(1), 28-
36.
https://doi.org/10.7454/hubs.asia.1131022
www.scholarhub.ui.ac.id/hubsasia
eISSN: 2406-9183
pISSN: 2355-794X
ABSTRACT
With the intensified focus on information and communication technology (ICT) as a
driver of the Malaysian economy, pressure will increase on the recruitment and
retention of ICT employees. However, work overload and conflict with family roles
may lead to a higher level of turnover intention among ICT employees. The
objective of this study is to investigate the predicting effects of all forms of work-
family conflict (time-based, strain-based and behavior-based) on turnover
intentions. This quantitative cross-sectional study utilizes primary data collected
from 200 employees from ICT companies in the Klang valley using purposive
sampling. Various statistical analyses such as correlation and multiple regression
analyses were conducted to analyze the collected data with the SPSS statistical
package. The findings indicate that all forms of work to family conflict and family
to work conflict had effect on turnover intentions except for time-based form of
family to work conflict (TFWC). This study has significance for the management of
ICT companies in Malaysia as it provides human resource managers with a better
understanding of their employees needs in order to devise better strategies to reduce
turnover rate. This study also addressed some limitations, implications and
recommendations for future research.
ABSTRAK
Dengan fokus intensif pada teknologi informasi dan komunikasi sebagai penggerak
ekonomi Malaysia, tekanan akan meningkat pada perekrutan dan retensi pekerja-
pekerja dalam bidang teknologi informasi dan komunikasi. Namun, beban kerja
yang berlebihan dan konflik dengan peranan keluarga akan menyebabkan
peningkatan niat pusing ganti di kalangan pekerja-pekerja teknologi informasi dan
komunikasi. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk menyelidiki efek prediksi dari
semua bentuk konflik pekerjaan-keluarga (berasaskan waktu, berasaskan
ketegangan dan berasaskan perilaku) pada niat pusing ganti. Kajian kuantitatif
keratan lintang ini menggunakan data primer yang dikumpulkan dari 200 pekerja-
pekerja dari perusahaan teknologi informasi dan komunikasi di lembah Klang,
Malaysia dengan menggunakan persampelan bertujuan. Berbagai analisis statistik
seperti analisis korelasi dan regresi berganda dilakukan untuk menganalisis data
yang dikumpulkan dengan paket statistik SPSS. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa
semua bentuk konflik pekerjaan ke keluarga dan konflik keluarga ke pekerjaan
berpengaruh pada niat pusing ganti kecuali bentuk konflik keluarga ke pekerjaan
berasaskan waktu (TFWC). Studi ini memiliki arti penting bagi manajemen
perusahaan teknologi informasi dan komunikasi di Malaysia atas memberikan
pemahaman yang lebih baik kepada manajer sumber daya manusia tentang
keperluan pekerja mereka untuk merancang strategi yang lebih baik untuk
mengurangi niat pusing ganti. Penelitian ini juga membahas beberapa keterbatasan,
implikasi dan rekomendasi untuk penelitian masa depan.
28 July 2023 | Vol. 27 | No. 1
Lee et al.
1. Introduction
The information and communications technology (ICT)
industry in Malaysia registered a 10.4% growth in 2020,
valued at RM320 billion, compared with 7.3 % in the
previous year, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia
(DOSM). Employment in the ICT industry in 2020
amounted to 1.16 million persons with contribution of
7.7% to total employment. Much of that growth is
driven by the increased digitalization of processes
across all major industrial sectors (The Star, 2021). In
this era of Industry 4.0, the well-being of ICT employees is
paramount. More and more organizations recognize that
information technology is the growth engine required
for economic success. This reality has been compounded
even further with the recent Covid 19 pandemic with
many organizations having to turn to information
technology to continue with their operations (Lim &
Saraih, 2021).
With the intensified focus on ICT as a driver of the
Malaysian economy, pressure will increase on the
recruitment and retention of ICT employees. Malaysia’s
ICT industry is currently facing a shortage of employees
said The National ICT Association of Malaysia (PIKOM)
(The Sun, 2016). Aon (2017) stated that organizations in
the ICT industry faced high levels of employee turnover
with Australia (12.9%) followed by Malaysia (12.8%).
This high percentage would have serious effects on the
efficiency of an organization. Hiring the right person is
already difficult enough, but keeping them is even
harder (Kamalaveni et al., 2019). The departure of
valuable ICT employees would not only have a financial
impact on the company in terms of the costs incurred in
hiring and training new employees but would also have
an impact on the overall viability of the company (Lim
& Saraih, 2021). Thus, based on the seriousness of the
problem, figuring out the causes of ICT employees’
turnover has become crucial for the survival of companies
involved in this industry.
The existing literature on work-family conflict and
turnover intention is extensive and focuses particularly
on non-ICT employees or only female employees
(Aboobaker & Edward, 2019; Li et al., 2022; Rasheed et
al., 2018). The focus of this study shall be on the factor
of work-family conflict among ICT employees due to
the paucity and inconsistencies of findings of past
research in this area, specifically in the Malaysian ICT
context (Ghayyur & Jamal, 2012; Haar et al., 2012;
Hafsah, 2012). This area warrants research as many
Malaysian ICT companies admitted that they exploited
sophisticated communications technology that enable
them near constant contact with their employees during
non-working hours, which causes their employees low
level of freedom and high levels of work-family conflict
(Hafsah, 2012).
www.scholarhub.ui.ac.id/hubsasia
Effects of Work-Family Conflict on Turnover Intention
Turnover intention is an employee’s willingness to
leave his current organization due to certain reasons
(Kaur & Randhawa, 2020). There are two forms of
turnover intentions-voluntary and involuntary. Voluntary
turnover is when the employee makes the decision to
leave on their own accord due to various reasons (Zheng
et al., 2021) Past research has indicated that the reasons
why employees quit are frequently related to work
related stressors (Zainal et al., 2022). Numerous studies
have covered various key factors such as work life
balance (Zainal et al., 2022), work-family conflict
(Harden et al., 2018; Purohit, 2016); job satisfaction
(Yang, 2008) and organizational support and justice
(Lim & Saraih, 2021). For this study, it postulates that
work family conflict is a work-related stressor that
would greatly influence ICT employee turnover intentions.
Researchers postulates work-family conflict as a form
of role conflict. When the stress from work adds to the
stress from family, or when work roles make family
roles more difficult, work- family conflict emerges (Li
et al., 2022). During the past 30 years, much more
information has become available on work-family
conflict. Work-family conflict (WFC) has been sub
divided into two types- work that affects family (work-
family conflict) and family that affect work (family-
work conflict) (Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985). Their idea
of conflict between work and family was formulated as
a bidirectional conceptualisation. In other words, they
differentiate between work-to-family conflict (W / F)
and family-to-work conflict (F / W) conflict vice versa.
Greenhaus and Beutell (1985) also postulated that three
types of family-work conflict exist: time-based, strain-
based, and behavior-based. Time-based type of work-
family conflict is associated with time being dedicated
to one job obligation making it difficult to fulfill the
requirements of another. Work schedules, marriage,
spousal employment patterns, children, career choice,
all of these generate pressure to engage extensively,
respectively, in the role of the workplace or family.
Conflict arises when such time pressures are inconsistent
with the demands of the other role requirements
(Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985). For strain-based form of
work-family conflict, it is linked to the pressure from
involvement in one position that makes it difficult to
fulfill the requirements of another. Symptoms of strain
are depression, irritability, stress, anxiety, exhaustion
and apathy, all which arise when the strain in one role
affects one's achievement in another (Greenhaus &
Beutell, 1985). Behaviour-based form of work-family
conflict is linked to distinct behaviours demanded by
one position making it challenging to meet the demands
of another. Specific behaviour patterns may be
unsuitable with behaviour assumptions in another role.
For example, male managers having to act authoritative,
impersonal and assertive in the office. This may be
unsuitable with behaviours required by his family such
as being loving, nurturing and vulnerable. Conflict
29 July 2023 | Vol. 27 | No. 1
Lee et al.
arises when these behaviour-based pressures are
unsuitable with the needs of the other role requirements
(Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985).
Even though a bi-directional conceptualization on work-
family conflict exists, the bulk of previous research has
concentrated on conflict arising from the work to family
direction (Frone et al., 1992; Lim et al., 2021; Spector et
al., 2004). This study hopes to extend knowledge by
investigating the predictive effect of both work-to-
family conflict (W / F) and family-to-work conflict (F /
W). A relationship between the two forms of work-
family conflict and turnover intention is postulated on
the premise that if the work-related problems and
obligations of the employee start to interfere with the
fulfillment of the family duties of the employee, this
will bring stress on the employee, leading to higher
turnover intention. Conversely, if the family-related
problems and commitments of the employee begin to
interfere with the fulfillment of the work-related duty of
the employee, similar action will occur, such as
resigning from their job. A positive relationship
between work-family conflict and turnover intention has
been identified in several studies (Asghar et al., 2018;
Jia & Li, 2021; Kalliath et al., 2019; Li et al., 2022;
Yucel et al., 2021).
Many studies have concluded the effect of work-family
conflict on turnover intentions in various industries.
Asghar et al. (2018)'s research conducted in Pakistan
with staff working in Lahore hospitals found that both
work to family and family to work conflict had a
significant impact on turnover intentions. They concluded
that employees who had advanced levels of conflict in
work to family and family to work were associated with
magnified turnover intentions. The studies by Jia and Li
(2021) and Kalliath et al. (2019) conducted in China and
India respectively found significant positive relationships
between work-family conflict and turnover intention
amongst social workers in those countries. The work-
related stressors that accompany the job of social
workers were incompatible with their needs leading to
high turnover rates. Similarly, another study conducted
in China amongst secondary school teachers found
similar results, with work-family conflict predicating
turnover intentions (Li et al., 2022). The study
concluded that in Chinese cultural background, both
work and family are equally important. Chinese people
not only pay great attention to their work but also pay
attention to playing a good role in the family and filial
piety, which increases the work-family conflict further.
The study by Yucel et al. (2021) amongst hospital
employees in Turkey concluded that hospital employees
intend to quit their jobs more if they are stuck between
their jobs and their families and cannot achieve a
balance between them.
Hence, the purpose of this study is to investigate the
www.scholarhub.ui.ac.id/hubsasia
Effects of Work-Family Conflict on Turnover Intention
effects of work-family conflict on the turnover intention
of Malaysian ICT employees. This study predicts that high
rates of work-family conflict would have a detrimental
impact on the turnover intentions of employees.
Theoretical Framework: Conservation of Resources
Theory
Work-family conflict is usually conceived as a form of
stress in Conservation of resources theory. At the time
that individuals try to harmonize work to family and
family to work demands, they may experience resource
loss such as time and energy, which contributes to stress
(Grandey & Cropanzano, 1999). This theory is based on
the assumption that (1) people look around to acquire
and maintain objective sources or conditions; (2) stress
arises when resource availability is threatened, and
resource investment does not result in the benefit of
resources.
This theory often emphasizes resource protection such
as leisure activities, personal health, good marriage,
financial wealth, and physical measurable work-related
family assistance. Individuals can acquire wealth
through good performance of a position such as
promotion, higher pay or self-esteem (Hobfoll, 1989).
Individuals experience stress when they feel the threat
of losing or failing to gain access to these vital resources
(Hobfoll et al., 2018). This theory is suggested in this
study because a threat to resources can lead to stress and
thus to turnover intention amongst employees. The worker
would go to the length of quitting their employment to
alleviate the stress and conserving their resources.
2. Methodology
Research Design
For this study the research design was a quantitative
cross-sectional design. This study was conducted in the
Malaysian ICT industry. The population of this study
was technology employees working in the ICT
producing industries stated by PIKOM such as
manufacturing, services, media and trade and content
companies. To better understand the factors which
trigger high turnover intentions, the study included all
types of ICT employees
Participants
The target respondents of this study are technology
employees who had at least one year working
experience in ICT companies located in the Klang
Valley, Malaysia. A total of 200 responses were
obtained. According to the sample size calculation with
G-power software, 200 data sets is sufficient for this
current study. The online survey link is closed once we
achieved 200 completed data. The incomplete survey
responses will be excluded. Majority of the respondents
(n = 107; 53.5%) are aged between 26 and 30 years;
30 July 2023 | Vol. 27 | No. 1
Lee et al.
followed by 45 respondents (22.5%) aged between 20 to
25. There are 40 respondents (20%) aged between 31 to
35 years and only 8 respondents (4%) aged between 36
to 40 years. There are 94 female respondents (47%) and
106 male respondents (53%). Regarding the marital
status, majority of the respondents (n = 122; 61%) are
single; 76 respondents (38%) are married and two
respondents who are divorced. Most of the recruited
respondents are aged below 30, thus most of them (n =
177; 88.5%) have more than one year but less than five
years’ job tenure.
Measurement
Work-family conflict. Work-family conflict was
measured by the Work and Family conflict scale
(WAFCS) from Carlson et al. (2000), which comprised
of work to family conflict (time-based, strain- based and
behavior-based) and family to work conflict (time-
based, strain-based and behavior- based). This 30-item
scale was anchored by a 7-point likert scale ranging
from 1 (very strongly disagree) to 7 (very strongly
agree). The higher scores indicated the higher work-
family conflict dimensions the respondents perceived
of. All subscales represented high reliability by
obtaining the Cronbach’s alpha which was above 0.91.
Turnover intention. Turnover intention was assessed by
Employee Turnover Intention Scale (Roodt, 2004). The
respondents required to give responses about the
intention to stay at the company during the past nine
months with a 5-point likert scale. The higher the
scores, the higher level of the respondents’ turnover
intention. The Cronbach’s alpha value for the turnover
intention scale in this study was 0.937.
Demographic variable. Respondents’ demographic
information was collected such as age, nationality,
gender, marital status, year/s of job tenure etc.
Research procedures
The questionnaire was prepared in English language.
Ethical approval was obtained from the ethical
committee before the data collection. Participants were
Table 1. Descriptive Analysis and Pearson Correlation among the Main Study Variables
Variable Mean (SD)
1. TWFC 4.34 (1.45)
2. TFWC 4.31 (1.42)
3. SWFC 4.53 (1.19)
4. SFWC 4.89 (1.32)
5. BWFC 4.72 (1.45)
6. BFWC 4.50 (1.49)
7. Turnover intention 3.35 (.096)
Note. ***p < 0.001; SD = standard deviation; TWFC = Time-based form of work to family conflict; TFWC = Time-
based form of family to work conflict; SWFC = Strain-based form of work to family conflict; SFWC = Strain-based form
of family to work conflict; BWFC = Behavioral-based form of work to family conflict; BFWC = Behavioral-based form
of family to work conflict
www.scholarhub.ui.ac.id/hubsasia
Effects of Work-Family Conflict on Turnover Intention
recruited using purposive sampling method. An online
survey that consisted of research purposes, informed
consent was shared by the researcher via email to
potential respondents. Prior to answering the questionnaire,
research objectives were provided on the cover page of
the questionnaire. The respondents were required to
provide the informed consent and be informed that all
information will remain as confidential and will be
reported as group data only for academic purpose.
Data analysis
The collected data was analyzed using SPSS software
with various statistical analyses to test the hypotheses of
this study. Descriptive statistics (i.e., mean and standard
deviations) of the study variables were conducted.
Pearson correlation was conducted before conducting
multiple regression analysis to examine the relationships
between the independent variables and dependent
variable. Moreover, multiple regression analysis was
performed to examine the main objectives (i.e., the
predicting effects of work-family conflict on turnover
intention).
3. Data analysis and results
Preliminary analysis
Exploratory data analysis was carried out to test the
distribution of the data. The skewness values of the main
study variables are within the ± 1.96 range and the
kurtosis values are within ± 2, thus the data is normally
distributed. There is no multicollinearity problem as all
VIF values are below 5, and tolerance values are higher
than 0.2.
As shown in Table 1, all independent variables were
significantly associated with the dependent variable
according to findings from the Pearson correlation
analysis. Time-based form of work to family conflict
(TWFC: r = 0.541; p < 0.001) was positively correlated
with turnover intention. There was a positive relationship
between time-based form of family to work conflict
(TFWC: r = 0.586; p < 0.001) and turnover intention. A
Turnover Intention
0.541***
0.586***
0.882***
0.548***
0.875***
0.807***
-
31 July 2023 | Vol. 27 | No. 1
Lee et al. Effects of Work-Family Conflict on Turnover Intention

Table 2. Multiple regression model: Predictors of turnover intention.

Variables Turnover Intention

Step 1 Step 2
B SE. B Beta p value B SE. B Beta p value
Step 1
Gender –0.354 0.136 –0.184 0.010 –0.188 0.048 –0.098 <0.001
(0 = Female,
1 = Male)
Year/s of job tenure –0.019 0.073 –0.019 0.794 –0.033 0.024 –0.032 0.178
Marital status –0.035 0.135 –0.019 0.796 –0.030 0.046 –0.016 0.514
(0 = Single,
1 = Married,
2 = Divorced)
Step 2
TWFC 0.069 0.019 0.103 <0.001
TFWC 0.038 0.021 0.056 0.071
SWFC 0.271 0.041 0.335 <0.001
SFWC 0.062 0.021 0.085 0.003
BWFC 0.214 0.029 0.322 <0.001
BFWC 0.132 0.025 0.204 <0.001
2
R 0.033 0.896 0.083
Adjusted R2 0.019 0.891 <0.001
R2 change 0.863
F change 2.259 182.115 <0.001
Note. B = unstandardized coefficient; SE. B = standard error for the unstandardized beta; β = standardized beta; SD =
standard deviation; TWFC = Time-based form of work to family conflict; TFWC = Time-based form of family to work
conflict; SWFC = Strain-based form of work to family conflict; SFWC = Strain-based form of family to work conflict;
BWFC = Behavioral-based form of work to family conflict; BFWC = Behavioral-based form of family to work conflict.

higher level of work to family conflict in strain-based
form (SWFC: r = 0.882; p < 0.001) was found to be
significantly related to higher level of turnover
intention; while the strain-based form of family to work
conflict (SFWC: r = 0.548; p < 0.001) was also
positively linked to turnover intention. Both behavioral
based form of work-family conflict was highly correlated
with greater level of turnover intention (BWFC: r =
0.875; p < 0.001; BFWC: r = 0.807; p < 0.001). With
the significant relationships among work-family conflict
variables and turnover intention established, multiple
regression analysis was conducted to further examine
the predicting effects between variables.
Multiple regression analysis
In the multiple regression model, demographic variables
(i.e., gender, year/s of job tenure, and marital status)
were entered as controlled variables in the step 1. In
step 2, all the subscales of work-family conflict as the
predictors of turnover intention were entered. In step 1,
demographic variables (i.e., gender, years/s of job
tenure and marital status) only explained 1.9% of the
variability of turnover intention as reported as adjusted
R² = 0.019. In step 2, demographic variables and the
forms of work-family conflict explained well the
predicting effects of turnover intention by reporting
high adjusted R² (0.891). Thus, the inclusion of
demographic variables and all of the variables for work-
family conflict explained 89.1% of the variability of
turnover intention. The value of R² change was reported
as 0.863. By controlling the effect of demographic
variables, it indicated that work-family conflict
explained the variance of turnover intention with 86.3%.
According to the results of multiple regression analysis,
time-based form of work to family conflict (TWFC:
Beta = 0.103, p < 0.001) positively predicted a higher
level of turnover intention. Surprisingly, the results
determined that time-based form of family to work
conflict (TFWC: Beta = 0.056, p = 0.071) failed to
significantly predict turnover intention. Strain-based
form of work to family conflict (SWFC: Beta = 0.335, p
< 0.001) has also found to be an important predictor of
turnover intention while strain-based form of family to
work conflict (SFWC: Beta = 0.085, p = 0.003) also had
a significant predicting effect on turnover intention. The
results also indicated the predicting effect of behavior-
based form of work to family conflict (BWFC: Beta =

www.scholarhub.ui.ac.id/hubsasia 32 July 2023 | Vol. 27 | No. 1

Lee et al.
0.322, p < 0.001) and behavior-based form of family to
work conflict (BFWC: Beta = 0.204, p < 0.001) on
turnover intention.
4. Discussion and implication
The results indicated that employees with a higher level
of time-based form of work to family conflict (TWFC)
have a greater intention to leave the current job position
or company. The study by Luftman and Ben-Zvi (2010)
stated that the rise of workload and the harsh demands
from the company would cause employees to have
inadequate time for their family members; which in turn
led to the high level of turnover rate of the employees.
Contrary to hypothesis, this study did not find a
significant predicting effect of time-based form of family
to work conflict (TFWC) on turnover intention. The
results reflected that the time-based form of family to
work conflict (TFWC) wouldn’t significantly affect the
employees’ turnover intention. It implied that the
employees who experiences extra time requirements for
family will neither increase nor reduce their intention on
changing their job.
Another important finding was that both strain-based
form of work-family conflict (i.e., SWFC and SFWC)
have significant predicting effects on turnover intention.
The pressures the employee received in his workplace
will create conflict for him in his home setting and vice
versa (Lavassani & Movahedi, 2014). The employee
with high SWFC would feel tension from job events and
feel exhausted to handle family matters; while high
SFWC would interfere with the employee’s job
performance due to the overloaded family responsibilities
(Carlson et al., 2000). Employees who reported to have
higher level of SWFC and SFWC tend to experience
negative interpersonal relationship with colleagues or
family members; in which they have conflicts of playing
their roles in the workplace and family setting. Thus, it
aroused their need to change their current condition
which is to change a job, hence increasing their turnover
intentions. A recent study by Aboobaker et al. (2017)
has also noted the importance of strain-based form of
family to work conflict (SFWC) on turnover intention.
The current study also found that there are significant
predicting effects of behavior-form of work to family
conflict (BWFC) and behavior-form of family to work
conflict (BFWC) on the turnover intention. BWFC that
cause incompatible behavior for the employees’ role as
employees and family members positively contributed to
higher level of turnover intention. The result is consistent
with the study by Geszler (2016) that also found that
BWFC caused higher turnover intention of employees.
ICT companies expect their technology employees to
uphold certain characteristics such as being skeptical and
self-reliant; however, the employees have to present their
agreeableness towards their family members. These
findings explained that employees are more likely to
report higher level of turnover intention when they found
www.scholarhub.ui.ac.id/hubsasia
Effects of Work-Family Conflict on Turnover Intention
that they failed to act the same way at their workplace as
they do at home. The discrepancy between the ways they
act at work and the ways they handle family matters
arouse their intention to change their job.
The findings from this study make several contributions
to the current literature. First, the current study
contributes to existing knowledge by reporting the
predicting effects of time-based form of work to family
conflict (TWFC), strain-based form of work to family
conflict (SWFC) and family to work conflict (SFWC),
behavior-based form of work to family conflict (BWFC)
and family to work conflict (BFWC) on turnover
intention. Besides this, the findings reported here shed
new light on predicting effect of time-based form of
family to work conflict (TFWC) on turnover intention.
The non-significant predicting effect of TFWC on
turnover intention could be explained that the employees
who spent more time on family are less likely to change
their jobs even if their family responsibilities had
interfered with their work activities. This finding can be
implied that the employees are more family-oriented and
willing to devote more to their family. Thus, the
employees may not have significant level of turnover
intention when they are able to commit to their family
members and life.
Following these findings, there are a few actions that
human resource managers can initiate in order to
alleviate the effect of work-family conflict on turnover
intention. Practices such as flexible working hours
(Saltzstein et al., 2001), telecommuting (Spector et al.,
2004), workplace on site creches and discounts or
allowances to ease the pressure of paying for external
childcare services (Kossek et al., 2010) can be
implemented to reduce employees’ turnover intention.
5. Limitations and future research
The current study was only able to obtain 200
respondents from the Klang Valley area in Malaysia due
to time constraints and busy schedule of technology
employees. Even though this sample size is adequate by
following the criteria of Gpower, it is still encouraged to
recruit more respondents from different areas or states
to increase the generalizability of the findings. Another
limitation of the present study is the cross-sectional
approach with survey method. For future research, the
interview method can be implemented which allows for
more in-depth study of the variables as well as to better
explain the causal outcome of work-family conflicts on
turnover intention.
6. Conclusion
The results indicated that time-based form of work to
family conflict (TWFC) positively predicted turnover
intention. The employees who devoted too much time to
their workplace and have insufficient time for family
33 July 2023 | Vol. 27 | No. 1
Lee et al.
tend to leave their job. However, there was no
significant predicting effect of time-based form of
family to work conflict (TFWC) on turnover intention.
It indicated that spending too much time for family
responsibilities do not lead to turnover intentions. As
hypothesized, both strain-based form of work to family
(SWFC) and strain-based form of family to work
conflict (SFWC) have significant predicting effect with
turnover intention. The impairment in juggling work
and family events lead to higher level of turnover
intention. Similarly, behavior-based form of work to
family conflict (BWFC) and behavior-based form of
family to work conflict (BFWC) show the incompatibility
of work and job also increase turnover intention of ICT
employees. This study has significance for the
management of ICT companies in Malaysia. The
findings in this study will provide human resource
managers with a better understanding of their
employees needs and devise better strategies to reduce
turnover intention.
References
Aboobaker, N., & Edward, M. (2019). Collective
influence of work– family conflict and work–family
enrichment on turnover intention: Exploring the
moderating effects of individual differences. Global
Business Review, 21(5), 1218-1231.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0972150919857015
Aboobaker, N., Edward, M., & Pramatham, K. P.
(2017). Work–family conflict, family–work conflict and
intention to leave the organization: Evidences across
five industry sectors in India. Global Business Review,
18(2), 524-536.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0972150916668696
Aon (2017, November 1). Technology companies in
Asia-Pacific ready to boost 2018 salary budgets to
address rising employee turnover and strong demand
for talent.
https://apac.aonhewitt.com/home/about/media-
room/press-releases/november-2017
Asghar, M., Gull, N., Bashir, M. & Akbar, M. (2018).
The impact of work-family conflict on turnover
intentions: The moderating role of perceived family
supportive supervisor behaviour. Journal of Hotel &
Business Management, 7(1), 1-11.
https://doi.org/10.4172/2169-0286.1000178
Carlson, D. S., Kacmar, K. M., & Williams, L. J.
(2000). Construction and initial validation of a
multidimensional measure of work–family conflict.
Journal of Vocational behavior, 56(2), 249-276.
https://doi.org/10.1006/jvbe.1999.1713
www.scholarhub.ui.ac.id/hubsasia
Effects of Work-Family Conflict on Turnover Intention
Frone, M. R., Russell, M. & Cooper, M. L. (1992).
Antecedents and outcome of work- family conflict:
Testing a model of the work family interface. Journal of
Applied Psychology, 77(1), 65-78.
https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.77.1.65
Geszler, N. (2016). Behaviour-based work-family
conflict among Hungarian manager fathers.
Intersections. East European Journal of Society and
Politics, 2(3), 118-137.
https://doi.org/10.17356/ieejsp.v2i3.151
Ghayyur, M., & Jamal, W. (2012). Work-family
conflicts: A case of employees' turnover intention.
International Journal of Social Science and Humanity,
2(3), 168-174. https://doi.org/10.7763/IJSSH.2012.V2.90
Grandey, A. A., & Cropanzano, R. (1999). The
conservation of resources model applied to work–family
conflict and strain. Journal of Vocational Behavior,
54(2), 350-370. https://doi.org/10.1006/jvbe.1998.1666
Greenhaus, J. H. & Beutell, N. J. (1985). Sources of
conflict between work and family roles. Academy of
Management Review, 10(1), 76-88.
https://doi.org/10.2307/258214
Haar, J. M., Roche, M., & Taylor, D. (2012). Work–
family conflict and turnover intentions of indigenous
employees: the importance of the whanau/family for
Maori. The International Journal of Human Resource
Management, 23(12), 2546-2560.
https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2011.610344
Hafsah, W. (2012). Work-Life Balance Benefit:
Organizational Commitment and Retention of Female
Employees in SMEs Company in Perlis (Doctoral
dissertation). Universiti Utara Malaysia.
Harden, G., Boakye, K. G., & Ryan, S. (2018).
Turnover intention of technology professionals: A social
exchange theory perspective. Journal of Computer
Information Systems, 58(4), 291-300.
https://doi.org/10.1080/08874417.2016.1236356
Hobfoll, S. E. (1989). Conservation of resources: A new
attempt at conceptualizing stress. American
psychologist, 44(3), 513-524.
https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.44.3.513
Hobfoll, S. E., Halbesleben, J., Neveu, J. P., &
Westman, M. (2018). Conservation of resources in the
organizational context: The reality of resources and
their consequences. Annual Review of Organizational
Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 5(1), 103-
128. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-032117-
104640
34 July 2023 | Vol. 27 | No. 1
Lee et al.
Jia, C. X., & Li, J. C. M. (2021). Work-family conflict,
burnout, and turnover intention among Chinese social
workers: The moderating role of work support. Journal
of Social Service Research, 1-16.
https://doi.org/10.1080/01488376.2021.1942393
Kalliath, P., Kalliath. T., Chan, X.W., & Chan. C.
(2019). Linking work-family enrichment to job
satisfaction through job well-being and family support-
a moderated mediation analysis of social workers across
India. The British Journal of Social Work, 49(1), 234-
255. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcy022
Kamalaveni, M., Ramesh, S., & Vetrivel, T. (2019). A
review of literature on employee retention. International
Journal of Innovative Research in Management Studies,
4(4), 1-10.
http://ijirms.com/downloads/22052019250918-110.pdf
Kaur, R., & Randhawa, G. (2020). Supportive
supervisor to curtail turnover intentions: Do employee
engagement and work-life balance play any role?
Evidence- based HRM: A Global forum for Empirical
Scholarship, 9(3), 241-257.
https://doi.org/10.1108/EBHRM-12-2019-0118
Kossek, E. E., Lewis, S., & Hammer, L. B. (2010).
Work-life initiatives and organizational change:
Overcoming mixed messages to move from the margin
to the mainstream. Human relations, 63(1), 3-19.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726709352385
Lavassani, K. M., & Movahedi, B. (2014).
Developments in theories and measures of work-family
relationships: From conflict to balance. Contemporary
Research on Organization Management and
Administration, 2(1), 6-19.
Li, J. C. M., Cheung, C. K., Sun, I. Y., Cheung, Y. K.,
& Zhu, S. (2022). Work-family conflicts, stress, and
turnover intention among Hong Kong police officers
amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Police Quarterly, 25(3),
281-309. https://doi.org/10.1177/10986111211034777
Li, X., Chen, X., & Gao, D. (2022). Influence of work-
family conflict on turnover intention of primary and
secondary school teachers: Serial mediating role of
psychological contract and job satisfaction. Frontiers in
Psychiatry, 13, 869344.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.869344
Lim, T. L., Omar, R., Ho, T. C. F., & Tee, P. K. (2021).
The roles of work-family conflict and family-work
conflict linking job satisfaction and turnover intention
of academic staff. Australian Journal of Career
Development, 30(3), 133-188.
https://doi.org/10.1177/10384162211068584
www.scholarhub.ui.ac.id/hubsasia
Effects of Work-Family Conflict on Turnover Intention
Lim, C. S. & Saraih, U. N. (2021). Modelling
organizational justice and perceived organizational
support towards turnover intention among the
Malaysian ICT employees: Career satisfaction as
moderator. The Middle East International Journal for
Social Sciences, 3(1), 16- 23. https://meijss.org/wp-
content/uploads/2021/03/MEIJSS-16-23.pdf
Luftman, J., & Ben-Zvi, T. (2010). Key issues for IT
executives 2009: Difficult economy’s impact on IT. MIS
Quarterly Executive, 9(1), 203-213.
https://higherlogicdownload.s3.amazonaws.com/SIMN
ET/face6240-1a51-4033-84b7-
40cb7aec9edc/UploadedImages/IT_Trends_Study_Files
/A11-_2011_Luftman___Ben-Zvi.pdf
Purohit, M. (2016). A study on–employee turnover in IT
sector with special emphasis on Wipro and Infosys.
IOSR Journal of Business and Management, 18(4), 47-
51. https://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jbm/papers/Vol18-
issue4/Version-1/F1804014751.pdf
Rasheed, M., Iqbal, S., & Mustafa, F. (2018). Work-
family conflict and female employees’ turnover
intentions. Gender in Management, 33(8), 636-653.
https://doi.org/10.1108/GM-09-2017-0112
Roodt, G. (2004). Concept redundancy and
contamination in employee commitment research:
Current problems and future directions. SA Journal of
Industrial Psychology, 30(1), 82-90.
https://doi.org/10.4102/sajip.v30i1.135
Saltzstein, A. L., Ting, Y., & Saltzstein, G. H. (2001).
Work-family balance and job satisfaction: The impact
of family-friendly policies on attitudes of federal
government employees. Public Administration Review,
61(4), 452-467. https://doi.org/10.1111/0033-
3352.00049
Spector, P. E., Cooper, C. L., Poelmans, S., Allen, T.
D., O'driscoll, M. P., Sanchez, J. I., … & Yu, S. (2004).
A cross‐national comparative study of work‐family
stressors, working hours, and well‐being: China and
Latin America versus the Anglo world. Personnel
psychology, 57(1), 119-142.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.2004.tb02486.x
The Star (2021, October 15). ICT Industry contributed
22.6% to GDP. Retrieved from
https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-
news/2021/10/15/ict-industry-contributed-226-to-gdp
Yang, J. T. (2008). Effect of newcomer socialization on
organizational commitment, job satisfaction and
turnover intention in the hotel industry. The Service
Industries Journal, 28(4), 429-443.
https://doi.org/10.1080/02642060801917430
35 July 2023 | Vol. 27 | No. 1
Lee et al. Effects of Work-Family Conflict on Turnover Intention

Yucel, I., Sirin, M.S., & Bas, M. (2021). The mediating Employee retention in the service industry in Malaysia.
effect of work engagement on the relationship between Frontiers in Sociology,7, 928-951.
work-family conflict and turnover intention and https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2022.928951
moderated mediating role of supervisor support during
global pandemic. International Journal of Productivity Zheng, G., Liu, H., Wang, Y., & Chen, B. (2021). The
and Performance Management, 70(7), 1-20. embedded paradox of organizational turnover and
https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPPM-07-2020-0361 professional autonomy. Research on Social Work
Practice, 31, 662-670.
Zainal, N. S. B., Wider, W., Lajuma, S., Ahmad Khadri, https://doi.org/10.1177/1049731520984535
M. W.A. B., Taib, N. M., & Joseph, A. (2022).

www.scholarhub.ui.ac.id/hubsasia 36 July 2023 | Vol. 27 | No. 1