Antecedents of Employee Retention in Chinese Hybrid Work Models: The Mediating Role of Job Satisfaction

This study explores the factors that determine employee retention in China's hybrid working environment from the mediating perspective of job satisfaction. Through a quantitative survey of 299 employees from various industries, this study identified four main factors influencing employee retention, including work boundaries, supervision and collaboration, occupational anxiety, and cultural background. The results of multiple regression analysis showed that career anxiety and cultural adaptation were the strongest predictors of retention rate, explaining high levels of the variance of retention rate. The results show that job satisfaction significantly mediates the relationship between remote work characteristics and retention, among which supervision and collaboration play almost all mediating roles. Industry heterogeneity analysis reveals clear industry-specific patterns: the financial industry prioritizes clear job boundaries and cultural fit, while manufacturing emphasizes regulatory quality and anxiety-driven commitment. Therefore, this study concludes that Chinese organizations should establish digital work boundaries, use clear career paths to transform moderate career anxiety into motivation, and design localized human resource management frameworks. These findings offer some practical guidance for local human resource practitioners who are implementing hybrid work models in digital transformation.