Article published: How social inclusion keeps local transport truck drivers in their jobs – but can also be a burden
In recent decades, globalization has increased social inequalities – especially for employees in blue-collar professions such as truck drivers – while at the same time there is an acute shortage of skilled workers. Yet it is precisely this occupational group that plays a central role in the functioning of society. This makes it all the more important to maintain the mental well-being of skilled workers such as local transport truck drivers and to secure their long-term employability. Our current study therefore examines whether and to what extent the psychological attachment of local transport truck drivers to their living environment and their company has rather beneficial or rather detrimental consequences for their intention to quit and their psychological well-being – especially in the context of stressful working conditions. Based on interviews with 98 drivers, the results show that being embedded in the living environment – for example through family and neighbors – harbors ambivalences: On the one hand, it can reduce intentions to quit in a challenging working environment, on the other hand, it can be associated with a higher intention to quit and exhaustion among drivers under very adverse working conditions. Social integration is therefore not always automatically a resource, but also an obligation, which in the case of poor working conditions is associated with more exhaustion and a stronger intention to quit.
Schmidbauer, J.*, Niessen, C.*, Lubecki-Weschke, N., & Krupp, M. (2025). Staying in a stressful job? The role of job embeddedness for truck drivers` well-being and turnover intentions. Journal of Business and Psychology. Online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-025-10011-0
*shared first authorship