The retention of a critical mass of human resources is currently an urgent priority for China’s older adults’ care sector. This study investigated the relationship between social support and turnover intention among employees in older adults caring social organisations (SOs) and focused on studying the mediating role of job satisfaction.

Cross-sectional study.

Older adults caring for SOs in Anhui, Chongqing and Shanghai, China.

A hybrid sampling method was applied to this study, which encompassed multistage stratified sampling and targeted sampling. Questionnaires were administered to 1433 employees of SOs caring for the elderly from November 2019 to August 2023.

A generalised linear model was employed to examine factors associated with turnover intention. Spearman correlation analysis was used to investigate the relationships between key variables. Finally, the mediating effects among the study variables were examined using structural equation modelling.

The overall median scores (IQR) for employees’ turnover intention and social support were 10.00 (6.00) and 72.00 (14.00), respectively. The total effect on turnover intention comprised the direct effect of social support on turnover intention (β =–0.165, SE =0.040, 95% CI =–0.243 to –0.087) and the indirect effect of social support on turnover intention through job satisfaction (β =–0.079, SE =0.016, 95% CI =-0.111 to –0.049).

The study elucidated the indirect influence of social support on turnover intention among employees in older adults caring SOs, mediated by job satisfaction.