Abstract:
Managing occupational stress and the turnover intention have become momentous phenomena in career
management literature. Majority of garment factories in Sri Lanka are experiencing high rate of labour turnover
ratio and it becomes a critical problem to maintain their competitive advantages. Various factors affecting
to the turnover intention and the occupational stress is one of the major determinant which leads the
turnover intention. However, the relationship between the occupational stress of the Sewing Machine Operators
and the Turnover Intention is under considered in Sri Lankan context. Thus, the paper based on two
main objectives; first, it explores the relationship between occupational stress and the turnover intention of
sewing machine operators. Second, study aims to identify the significant stressors of perceived occupational
stress. Two hundred sewing machine operators are surveyed by using a self administered questionnaire and
the results of the factor analysis extracted two main components of stressors as subjective work stressors
and objective work Stressors. Regression analysis identified that working condition and the work load as
the significant predictors of objective work stressors and the social image and the supervisory support as
the significant predictors of subjective work stressors. Correlation Analysis revealed a positive relationship
in between the occupational stress and the turnover intention but no significant relationship is found in between
these two variables. The findings of the study would be important to the human resource managers of
apparel industry to develop their stress management and retention programs.
