The Effect of Work-Life Balance, Work Environment, and Career Development on Employee Retention through Work Motivation as an Intervening Variable: A Case Study of Generation Z in a Property Company in Tangerang Regency

Abstrak

This study examines the influence of work-life balance, work environment, and career development on employee retention with work motivation as an intervening variable. The main issue explored is how to retain employees in property companies by analyzing and researching each employee’s perspective on work-life balance, work environment, and career development, particularly among Gen Z. This case study adopts a qualitative approach using the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) method with 115 active Gen Z respondents who met the criteria. The results indicate that work-life balance has no significant effect on employee retention. Similarly, the work environment also shows no effect. Only career development was found to influence employee retention, as many employees are concerned with career growth, which motivates them to stay, mediated through work motivation. These findings provide new insights that in the real estate/property sector, employee retention does not depend on work-life balance or the work environment, since flexible working hours and workplace conditions are relatively overlooked by Gen Z employees. Instead, Gen Z prioritizes career progression as the main determinant of whether they choose to stay or leave.