This study examines the effects of public employment service workers’ perceptions of career plateau on organizational commitment and customer orientation, and investigates the mediating role of organizational commitment and the moderating role of pe...
This study examines the effects of public employment service workers’ perceptions of career plateau on organizational commitment and customer orientation, and investigates the mediating role of organizational commitment and the moderating role of perceived organizational support in these relationships. To achieve these objectives, a survey was conducted with employment counselors working at employment centers operated by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, who constitute the core workforce of public employment services. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS and AMOS through analysis of variance (ANOVA), confirmatory factor analysis, path analysis, bootstrapping, and moderation analysis.
The empirical results reveal that perceived career plateau has a significant negative effect on both organizational commitment and customer orientation. Organizational commitment was found to partially mediate the relationship between perceived career plateau and customer orientation. In addition, perceived organizational support moderated the relationship between perceived career plateau and organizational commitment by buffering its negative impact, highlighting the critical role of organizational support in the public employment service context.
This study contributes to the literature by extending research on career plateau and customer orientation to the public employment service sector, an area that has received limited empirical attention. Furthermore, it proposes an integrated structural model that explicates the relationships among perceived career plateau, organizational commitment, and customer orientation at the sub-dimensional level. Finally, this study offers practical implications by suggesting organizational strategies—such as strengthening emotional and instrumental support systems—to alleviate structural career plateau, enhance organizational commitment, and ultimately improve the quality of public employment services. These findings provide meaningful insights for human resource management practices in the public employment service sector.