Work-family balance and work engagement as predictors of turnover among newly hired blue-collar workers in the automotive supplier industry: a 6-month prospective study.

Objective: This prospective cohort study examined whether work-family balance and work engagement were associated with employer-verified turnover over a 6-month follow-up among newly hired blue-collar workers in the automotive supplier industry, within the framework of the Job Demands-Resources model. Methods: The study was conducted in an automotive supplier company in the Bandırma Organized Industrial Zone, Türkiye. A total of 334 blue-collar workers with a job tenure of 0-6 months were included. Data were collected using a sociodemographic questionnaire, a work-family balance scale, and the short form of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale. Participants were followed for 6 months, and turnover status was verified using company records. Descriptive statistics, group comparisons, chi-square tests, Spearman correlation analyses, and parsimonious adjusted binary logistic regression were performed to examine the factors associated with turnover. Results: The median age was 26.5 years, and 76.6% of participants were women. At the end of follow-up, 16.2% of workers had left their jobs. Workers who left had higher scores on the "negative impact of work on family life" dimension, whereas work engagement scores were higher among those who remained employed. Job choice motivation was also associated with turnover, with higher turnover observed among those who reported negative reasons for choosing the job. Work engagement was negatively correlated with work-family conflict dimensions and positively correlated with family-work harmony. In the parsimonious adjusted logistic regression model, work engagement was significantly associated with turnover status. Higher work engagement was associated with lower odds of turnover (OR = 0.948; 95% CI: 0.902-0.996), whereas the negative effect of work on family, negative job preference group, and baseline tenure were not statistically significant after adjustment. Conclusion: Higher work engagement was associated with lower early turnover among newly hired blue-collar workers in the automotive supplier industry. Although work-family balance dimensions were related to psychosocial functioning and showed univariate differences, they did not remain statistically significant in the adjusted parsimonious model. Workplace strategies that strengthen engagement and support work-family balance may contribute to improved workforce stability in manufacturing settings.