Perceived Quiet Firing and Turnover Intention in Education Technology Startups: A Serial Mediation Model

Diyan Novika; Sri Hartono; Fatkhur Rohman Albanjari

doi:10.61255/jeemba.v4i5.1374

Authors

Diyan Novika Universitas Muhammadiyah Ponorogo, Indonesia
Sri Hartono Universitas Muhammadiyah Ponorogo, Indonesia
Fatkhur Rohman Albanjari Universitas Muhammadiyah Ponorogo, Indonesia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.61255/jeemba.v4i5.1374

Keywords:

Perceived Quiet Firing, Psychological Contract Breach, Work Disengagement, Turnover intention, Education Technology startups

Abstract

Purpose – This study examines the sequential psychological processes theoretically proposed to connect perceived quiet firing with turnover intention among employees in Indonesian Education Technology startups, with psychological contract breach and work disengagement specified as theoretically ordered mediators whose sequential arrangement reflects an established theoretical logic rather than an empirically verified temporal sequence.

Design/methodology/approach – Survey data were collected from 190 employees across eight Education Technology startups in Indonesia. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to estimate direct, indirect, and serial mediation pathways among the four constructs.

Finding/Results – Psychological contract breach predicted work disengagement, while work disengagement emerged as the most proximate structural predictor of turnover intention. Neither the direct path from perceived quiet firing nor that from psychological contract breach to turnover intention reached significance once the mediators were included. Bootstrapping confirmed the significance of the indirect effects through work disengagement and through the serial pathway involving psychological contract breach and work disengagement.

Originality/Value – The study extends the employee withdrawal literature by embedding perceived quiet firing in an indirect effects model that treats psychological contract breach and work disengagement as distinct stages rather than interchangeable mechanisms. Their ordering follows from theory, not from temporal observation, and whether the sequence actually unfolds in this direction across time remains a question for longitudinal research. The findings carry practical implications for Education Technology startups seeking to identify and address early-stage relational risk factors before they solidify into voluntary attrition.

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