SEASONAL WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT: EXPLORING EMPLOYEES’ INTENTION TO RETURN

Abstract

The persistent shortage of seasonal workers in the hospitality industry has elevated the importance of seasonal employee retention. Consequently, this study, one of the few to do so, considers whether perceived supervisor support, affective organizational commitment, and work engagement are positively related to influencing seasonal workers’ intention to return to their same place of employment the following season. Specifically, this research posits that affective organizational commitment and work engagement mediate the relationship between perceived supervisor support and intention to return. In order to study this issue, data was gathered from seasonal employees who worked in Croatian hotels located in tourist-oriented cities during the 2019 tourist season. Significant relationships were observed among all four of the study’s four variables, yet only one of the model’s paths was found to be significant. This preliminary research begins the process of gaining a better understanding behind the dynamics of seasonal employment, an area of increasingly high importance for hotels and the hospitality industry in general.