The Effect of Job Apathy on Employee Negligence Behavior: A Moderated Mediation Approach

Abstract

In recent years, the phenomenon of employee quiet quitting has attracted much attention from academics in the hospitality sector. How to effectively alleviate the negative impact of quiet quitting on employee psychology and behavior has become an issue of concern for restaurant managers. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among employee job apathy, quiet quitting, and negligence behavior, and examine the mediating effect of quiet quitting and the moderating effect of career crafting. This study conducted a questionnaire survey involving 413 restaurant employees in Taiwan and used structural equation modeling to test the hypotheses. The results indicate that employee job apathy positively affected quiet quitting, and quiet quitting positively affects employee negligence behavior. In addition, quiet quitting mediated the relationship between employee job apathy and negligence behavior. Career crafting weakened the positive association between employee job apathy and quiet quitting, thereby diminishing negligence behavior. This study expands the existing knowledge on quiet quitting in the hospitality industry and understand the influencing factors and boundary conditions of employees quit quitting and negligence behavior. In the practice of restaurant management, strategic suggestions can be formulated for human resource management in restaurants to effectively strengthen employee job apathy and career crafting, thereby preventing employee quiet quitting and negligence behavior.