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Health, Workload, and Autonomy: Key Factors Driving Early Retirement Intentions among Putrajaya Primary School Teachers

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Title: Health, Workload, and Autonomy: Key Factors Driving Early Retirement Intentions among Putrajaya Primary School Teachers
Language: English
Authors: Nor Lida Azizi, Siti Noormi Alias, Abu Bakar Razali
Source: Journal of Education Human Resources. 2026 44(2):424-450.
Availability: University of Toronto Press. 5201 Dufferin Street, Toronto, ON M3H 5T8, Canada. Tel: 416-667-7810; Fax: 800-221-9985; Fax: 416-667-7881; e-mail: journals@utpress.utoronco.ca; Web site: https://www.utpjournals.press/loi/jehr
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 27
Publication Date: 2026
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Descriptors: Elementary School Teachers, Teacher Retirement, Foreign Countries, Intention, Influences, Health Conditions, Teaching Load, Professional Autonomy
Geographic Terms: Malaysia
DOI: 10.3138/jehr-2024-0084
ISSN: 2562-783X
Abstract: Early retirement intention is one of the critical phenomena happening to teachers globally. Malaysia also faces a similar issue, whereby the number of teachers applying for early retirement keeps increasing year after year, leaving vacant teaching positions all over the country. Consequently, underpinned by the Beehr Retirement Model and the job demands-resources theory, this study is conducted to examine factors that influence the intention to retire early among primary school teachers in Putrajaya, Malaysia. A total of 246 responses from a population of 1,481 teachers in Putrajaya were collected and analyzed through a correlational research design study. This study found that health conditions and workload have a significant and positive relationship with early retirement intentions, in which workload was the most contributing factor to early retirement intentions among primary school teachers. This study contributes valuable insights to the literature as well as other important stakeholders in understanding the factors of early retirement in the hope that they would be able to take necessary actions to overcome this issue in the future.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2026
Accession Number: EJ1508447
Database: ERIC
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  Value: <anid>AN0193956259;[mmhi]01apr.26;2026May25.06:51;v2.2.500</anid> <title id="AN0193956259-1">Health, Workload, and Autonomy: Key Factors Driving Early Retirement Intentions Among Putrajaya Primary School Teachers </title> <p>Early retirement intention is one of the critical phenomena happening to teachers globally. Malaysia also faces a similar issue, whereby the number of teachers applying for early retirement keeps increasing year after year, leaving vacant teaching positions all over the country. Consequently, underpinned by the Beehr Retirement Model and the job demands-resources theory, this study is conducted to examine factors that influence the intention to retire early among primary school teachers in Putrajaya, Malaysia. A total of 246 responses from a population of 1,481 teachers in Putrajaya were collected and analyzed through a correlational research design study. This study found that health conditions and workload have a significant and positive relationship with early retirement intentions, in which workload was the most contributing factor to early retirement intentions among primary school teachers. This study contributes valuable insights to the literature as well as other important stakeholders in understanding the factors of early retirement in the hope that they would be able to take necessary actions to overcome this issue in the future.</p> <p>Keywords: early retirement intention; health conditions; primary schools; teacher's autonomy; workload</p> <hd id="AN0193956259-2">Introduction</hd> <p>Early retirement is rising year by year and leads to a shortage of workers. Recent worldwide studies conducted in various countries, including Croatia ([<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref1">4</reflink>]), Sweden ([<reflink idref="bib55" id="ref2">55</reflink>]), Germany ([<reflink idref="bib57" id="ref3">57</reflink>]), Finland ([<reflink idref="bib41" id="ref4">41</reflink>]) and most Western countries ([<reflink idref="bib35" id="ref5">35</reflink>]), which have brought attention to employees' early retirement intentions. These recent studies show that early retirement intention is a global issue that needs further attention.</p> <p>The same goes for countries in Asia, where organizations lose competent workers resulting from early retirements, for example, medical professionals retiring early in Saudi Arabia ([<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref6">2</reflink>]), and there are also high turnover intentions among kindergarten teachers in Harbin, China ([<reflink idref="bib25" id="ref7">25</reflink>]), and Singapore ([<reflink idref="bib62" id="ref8">62</reflink>]). Losing employees can be quite costly for the organization. Employers have to spend extra costs on recruiting, hiring, and training new staff. Moreover, the organization's productivity may decline during the transition phase, which may have a negative impact on its performance. Therefore, early prevention initiatives are necessary to overcome these issues.</p> <p>The National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP; 2022) as stated in [<reflink idref="bib45" id="ref9">45</reflink>] revealed a consistent rise in teachers applying for early retirement each year. In line with this issue, [<reflink idref="bib30" id="ref10">30</reflink>] pointed out that public school teachers generally retire much earlier compared to those in other professions. Similarly, in Malaysia, the issue of early retirement is not new in the public service sector, especially among teachers. There was an increasing trend in early retirement among teachers from 2020 to 2022, as shown in Figure 1. In fact, the number of early retirement applications continues to grow year after year. In addition, the Malaysian education minister in a written parliamentary reply on 12 June 2023 said that the highest number of early retirement applications from 2021 to 2023 were teachers from the fields (option) of Malay language, English language, and mathematics ([<reflink idref="bib19" id="ref11">19</reflink>]).</p> <p>Graph: Figure 1. Source: Ministry of Education Malaysia ([<reflink idref="bib37" id="ref12">37</reflink>]).</p> <p>This trend has raised concern about losing experienced teachers who teach these core subjects (i.e., Malay language, English language, and mathematics) for all students. If this trend continues, the nation will face even more serious education problems that will affect the educational system's quality and competitiveness. Although teachers were noted to have the highest inclination for early retirement, a study by [<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref13">20</reflink>] revealed that many of them currently lack fundamental knowledge about the retirement planning needed to prepare effectively. Therefore, carrying out further research is essential to assess the current extent of early retirement intentions among teachers to forecast actual retirements and to recommend the necessary strategies for managing retirements.</p> <p>Many significant factors contribute to the issues that are leading these teachers to opt for early retirement. [<reflink idref="bib25" id="ref14">25</reflink>] noted that these factors included that these teachers suffer from poor health, are constantly fatigued, need leisure time, and have high workloads and low salaries. Meanwhile, [<reflink idref="bib63" id="ref15">63</reflink>] found that these teachers need to look after a family member, suffer from health issues, want to spend more time with family, are fed up with the job, and already have financial security. Similarly, other researchers pointed out that teachers currently face tougher working conditions, have a low quality of life, are less educated, and have poor health status ([<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref16">4</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib57" id="ref17">57</reflink>]); they are exhausted ([<reflink idref="bib55" id="ref18">55</reflink>]), they cannot cope with high work demand ([<reflink idref="bib57" id="ref19">57</reflink>]), they want to engage in a quality work community, they cannot cope with the high job demands, and they have low flexibility at work ([<reflink idref="bib41" id="ref20">41</reflink>]).</p> <p>Alarmingly, from 2019 to date, available studies related to early retirement among teachers in Malaysia generally are still limited. Considering the increasing trend of early retirement among teachers in Malaysia, more insights are needed to plan for future actions. Previous studies are mostly conducted in Western countries, such as the United States (e.g., [<reflink idref="bib34" id="ref21">34</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib43" id="ref22">43</reflink>]), Germany ([<reflink idref="bib31" id="ref23">31</reflink>]), Australia ([<reflink idref="bib46" id="ref24">46</reflink>]), Spain ([<reflink idref="bib36" id="ref25">36</reflink>]), China ([<reflink idref="bib25" id="ref26">25</reflink>]), and Pakistan ([<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref27">3</reflink>]). However, in Malaysia, there were less than ten studies conducted to address the issue. The available studies include [<reflink idref="bib56" id="ref28">56</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib50" id="ref29">50</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib39" id="ref30">39</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref31">22</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib38" id="ref32">38</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref33">26</reflink>], and [<reflink idref="bib29" id="ref34">29</reflink>]. Furthermore, most of these studies provide surface-level information related to factors associated to early retirement (e.g., [<reflink idref="bib56" id="ref35">56</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib38" id="ref36">38</reflink>]), was conducted qualitatively which include limited number of samples (e.g., [<reflink idref="bib39" id="ref37">39</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref38">22</reflink>]), and focused on financial planning (e.g., [<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref39">26</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib29" id="ref40">29</reflink>]). Therefore, additional studies are critically needed to examine the issue more comprehensively.</p> <p>Therefore, this study is conducted to answer the research question related to "What are drivers of early retirement intentions among primary school teachers?" from Beehr Retirement Model (BRM; [<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref41">6</reflink>]) and the job demands-resources (JD-R; [<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref42">13</reflink>]) theory perspectives.</p> <hd id="AN0193956259-3">Literature Review</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0193956259-4">Conceptualizing Early Retirement Intentions Among Teachers</hd> <p>Retirement is generally defined as the complete and permanent cessation of paid employment ([<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref43">6</reflink>]). Early retirement intention is the thinking of leaving an organizational position or career path before the official retirement age to reduce emotional commitment to work ([<reflink idref="bib17" id="ref44">17</reflink>]). In the context of the teaching profession, the actual early retirement decision is predicted by the intention of the teachers to retire before the official retirement age. [<reflink idref="bib64" id="ref45">64</reflink>] conceptualized the intention to retire as the planning for retiring or quitting one's position as a government teacher. For this study, early retirement intention referred to Malaysian primary school teachers' intention to leave the teaching profession for specific reasons before the official retirement age (e.g., 55, 56, 58, or 60 years old).</p> <p>Teaching is among the largest professions across nations ([<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref46">20</reflink>]) including in the Malaysian public sector. As of December 30, 2022, there are 428,743 education service officers, which is 84% of total employment in the Ministry of Education (MOE). From the figures, 235,114 are teachers in primary schools and 180,676 are teachers in secondary schools all over Malaysia ([<reflink idref="bib37" id="ref47">37</reflink>]). Recent studies indicated that the responsibilities of primary school teachers have increased due to the burden of other non-teaching tasks (e.g., [<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref48">28</reflink>]) and student misbehavior ([<reflink idref="bib67" id="ref49">67</reflink>]. In addition, primary school teachers also complain that the current syllabus is "too advanced," which has also put teachers under stress, and they think about leaving the profession early.</p> <hd id="AN0193956259-5">Theorizing the Teachers' Early Retirement Intentions</hd> <p>This study used the BRM ([<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref50">6</reflink>]) and the JD-R theory ([<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref51">13</reflink>]) as a framework to explain early retirement intentions and the contributing factors among primary school teachers. However, the main theory or model underpinning this study is the BRM.</p> <hd id="AN0193956259-6">BRM</hd> <p>This model is used to explain the relationship between health conditions, workload, and autonomy on early retirement intention. The BRM, developed by [<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref52">6</reflink>], explained the process of retirement decision-making. The BRM proposed that retirement is a gradual process rather than a single, one-time event. Employees think about retirement before they do so. The retirement decision process involves the cognitive and emotional processes that people go through when they decide to retire. It involves evaluating the benefits and drawbacks of retirement, considering alternatives, and assessing the decision's impact on various aspects of life. Individuals considering early retirement might need to consider the pros and cons of leaving the workforce earlier. Psychological and social variables, such as attitudes, perceptions, and social support, play a role in shaping an individual's decision to retire early. Beehr categorized predictors of retirement into personal and environmental factors as shown in Figure 2.</p> <p>Graph: Figure 2. Source:[<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref53">6</reflink>], p. 46). Copyright 2006 by John Wiley & Sons. Reprinted with permission.</p> <p>Personal factors have been identified as potential contributors to employees' retirement decisions, including Type A personality traits, skill obsolescence, health, and financial well-being. Type A individuals are described as outgoing, ambitious, highly organized, impatient, anxious, proactive, and focused on time management. Teachers with Type A personalities tend to be high achievers and workaholics, making them more inclined to continue working rather than opting for early retirement. Additionally, employees are more likely to retire when their job skills become outdated, leading to discomfort in performing their duties and prompting them to leave the workforce. Furthermore, health can significantly influence early retirement decisions, as declining health may reduce employees' ability to perform their jobs effectively. Finally, financial status plays a crucial role in the decision to retire early. Those who choose early retirement often forgo higher paying positions and receive reduced annual retirement benefits.</p> <p>This model also identifies four environmental factors influencing employees' retirement decisions: the achievement of occupational goals, job characteristics, marital and family circumstances, and leisure activities. For instance, teachers may consider early retirement if they feel they have achieved all their career aspirations and see no further reason to remain employed. In other cases, dissatisfaction or frustration with their job might drive them to retire early. Additionally, unfavorable job characteristics, such as outdoor work, management styles, physical work conditions, and inadequate organizational support, can encourage employees to leave their roles. Marital and family situations also play a significant role in retirement decisions. Some employees opt for early retirement to care for ill family members or spend more time with their spouses or grandchildren. Others may choose early retirement to pursue leisure or engaging activities, such as traveling.</p> <hd id="AN0193956259-7">JD-R Theory</hd> <p>This theory is used to support the explanation of the relationship between health conditions, workload, autonomy, and early retirement intention. Based on the JD-R theory ([<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref54">13</reflink>]), <emph>job demands</emph> refer to those job-related elements (e.g., physical, psychological, social, or organizational elements) that require prolonged physical or psychological effort and are consequently linked to specific physiological or psychological effects ([<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref55">13</reflink>]). Examples of job demands are workload, downsizing, role conflict, job insecurity, and pupils' misbehavior. Meanwhile, <emph>job resources</emph> refer to those job-related elements (physical, psychological, social, or organizational elements) that are useful in achieving work goals, reducing job demands and the associated physiological and psychological effects; or encouraging personal growth, learning, and development ([<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref56">13</reflink>]). Examples of job resources are autonomy, social support, task variety, and leadership. Figure 3 shows the framework for understanding the link between job demands and job resources on employees' well-being and organizational outcomes.</p> <p>Graph: Figure 3. Theoretical framework of the study</p> <p>JD-R theory suggests that job demands and job resources indicate two independent psychological processes: the health impairment process, in which job demands uniquely predict strain, and the motivational process, in which job resources lead to higher motivation. These two processes link with organizational outcomes, such as job satisfaction, organizational commitment, job performance, and turnover intentions.</p> <p>JDR theory has recently been useful in better understanding teachers' work-related experiences and providing insight into teacher well-being such as the nature of retirement as well as retention in the teaching profession ([<reflink idref="bib23" id="ref57">23</reflink>]). Several studies also used this theory to examine factors that influence withdrawal from a job, such as early retirement intention ([<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref58">11</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib48" id="ref59">48</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib52" id="ref60">52</reflink>]), and turnover intention among teachers (Le et al., 2022; [<reflink idref="bib46" id="ref61">46</reflink>]).</p> <p>Apart from job demands and job resources, teachers' early retirement intention also may be predicted by health conditions ([<reflink idref="bib65" id="ref62">65</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib66" id="ref63">66</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib68" id="ref64">68</reflink>]). Through the health impairment process in JD-R theory, it can be summarized that employees' mental and physical health problems have resulted from high job demands and low job resources. The health problems lead to the intention to retire early. This study also assumes employees who have chronic diseases that do not relate to work-related factors such as cancer, lung diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes prefer to retire early to take care of their health.</p> <hd id="AN0193956259-8">Theoretical Framework</hd> <p>Based on the preceding discussion, health conditions, job demands (workload) and job resources (autonomy) influence the intention to retire early. Thus, the theoretical framework as shown in Figure 4 is derived for the present study.</p> <p>Graph: Figure 4. Research framework</p> <p>The key concept of this framework is health conditions and job characteristics as well as job demands and job resources, which are the factors influencing early retirement intention. In the context of this study, teachers in primary schools felt that poor health conditions, such as chronic illness, diabetes, cancer, or mental disease reduce their job performance and increase the intention to retire early. Other than that, primary school teachers experiencing excessive workloads will put extra effort and commitment to complete the tasks within the limited time, especially when dealing with non-teaching tasks. The teachers will feel exhausted physically and mentally and, in turn, think that early retirement is a better choice for ending their career in the teaching profession. The framework also suggests that primary school teachers who are given autonomy in doing tasks and making decisions will feel more motivated to work. They feel appreciated when their ideas are taken into account in the formulation of education policy. They also have the freedom to determine the way they conduct teaching in class. Teachers who have high work motivation perform better at school, and normally, they are more likely to continue working until official retirement age.</p> <hd id="AN0193956259-9">Factors Influencing Early Retirement Intentions and Hypotheses Development</hd> <p>Factors that are considered in this research are personal factors (health conditions) and work-related factors (workload and autonomy). The variables chosen are the most highlighted in the past studies influencing early retirement intention (e.g., [<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref65">3</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib25" id="ref66">25</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib31" id="ref67">31</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib69" id="ref68">69</reflink>]).</p> <hd id="AN0193956259-10">Influence of Health Conditions on Early Retirement Intentions</hd> <p>Poor health condition is a common predictor of early retirement intention among employees in many organizations ([<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref69">12</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib60" id="ref70">60</reflink>]) and the most frequently cited reason for early retirement ([<reflink idref="bib61" id="ref71">61</reflink>]). Several health issues, such as depression, cancer, cardiovascular, and diabetes, possess the risk of influencing retirement intention ([<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref72">4</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib58" id="ref73">58</reflink>]). Individuals with poor or declining physical health may be unable to continue working ([<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref74">18</reflink>]). [<reflink idref="bib68" id="ref75">68</reflink>] also found a significant relationship between poor health and early retirement intention. This is when employees in poor health think about retiring early via several different pathways. First, health problems cause employees to feel incapable of performing their duties at all. Second, health issues led to a self-perceived (future) reduction in capacity to work, and employees decided to retire early. Third, employees having health issues were fearful about further deterioration in health and preferred to retire early. Fourth, employees with poor health leave the profession early because they have been forced out by their employer, even though they show good ability to do work. Furthermore, poor health also could lead to other negative consequences, such as demotivation, decreased work capability, low confidence, and stress. [<reflink idref="bib58" id="ref76">58</reflink>] added that retirement intention is influenced by poor mental and physical health.</p> <p>In the teaching profession, teachers tend to retire early to take care of their health ([<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref77">3</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib69" id="ref78">69</reflink>]). They believe it is time to pay more attention to their health after serving many years. In Malaysia, several teachers apply for optional retirement due to health reasons, such as bipolar disorder, anxiety, diabetes, stroke, cancer, coronary heart disease, stroke, lung disease, diabetes, and breast cancer ([<reflink idref="bib44" id="ref79">44</reflink>]). Normally, teachers who used prolonged sick leaves repeatedly for 3 years are advised to apply for early or optional retirement under General Order Chapter C. This is because teachers who suffer prolonged illness may experience absenteeism ([<reflink idref="bib7" id="ref80">7</reflink>]), low productivity, and a lack of focus, which affect the quality of teaching in class.</p> <p>Besides that, [<reflink idref="bib47" id="ref81">47</reflink>] on their study found that personal and family health problems influence teacher leaders' intention to retire early. Some of them need to take care of their family members who are facing prolonged health problems. Normally teachers do not use their annual leave for the purpose of taking care of their sick family members. Sometimes, they use half-paid leave for this purpose. When all the half-paid leave and unpaid leave are used, they will apply for optional or early retirement. Therefore, based on the preceding discussion, the researchers hypothesize that the following:</p> <p></p> <ulist> <item> HA<subs>1</subs>: There is a significant relationship between health conditions and early retirement intention among primary school teachers in Putrajaya.</item> </ulist> <hd id="AN0193956259-11">Influence of Workload on Early Retirement Intentions</hd> <p>[<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref82">8</reflink>] studied the intention of nurses to leave the profession during COVID-19. The study found the increase in workload was associated with the intention to retire early. Like nurses, teachers are also among the challenging professions that face excessive workloads, such as teaching more than one subject or non-option subjects, doing administrative tasks, and dealing with misbehaving pupils and parents with high expectations.</p> <p>In the education sector, past studies found that workload is significantly related to the intention to retire early ([<reflink idref="bib25" id="ref83">25</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib31" id="ref84">31</reflink>]). Excessive workload made teachers' physical and mental health deteriorate. For example, teachers complain that they have been burdened with the implementation of the School-Based Assessment (Pentaksiran Berasaskan Sekolah, PBS) that was introduced by the MOE, in addition to current administrative or non-teaching tasks ([<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref85">16</reflink>]). Teachers need to assess students individually. At the same time, they are pressured to finish the learning syllabus while conducting various forms of student assessments. This workload causes burnout among teachers and leads to early retirement intention. Therefore, the researchers hypothesize the following:</p> <p></p> <ulist> <item> HA<subs>2</subs>: There is a significant relationship between workload and early retirement intention among primary school teachers in Putrajaya.</item> </ulist> <hd id="AN0193956259-12">Influence of Autonomy on Early Retirement Intentions</hd> <p>According to [<reflink idref="bib24" id="ref86">24</reflink>], autonomy is the need to have a feeling of choice, commitment, and control when acting. Employee engagement was also a component of autonomy, in which employers encouraged workers to participate in organizational decision-making ([<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref87">33</reflink>]). For this study, autonomy is operationalized as the degree to which the job (the teaching profession) provides freedom, independence, and discretion to the primary school teachers in scheduling their work (i.e., teaching), making decisions, and determining the procedures to be used in carrying it out.</p> <p>In the context of education, teachers believe they are granted autonomy if they can control certain aspects of their work life and participate in critical decisions that affect their work ([<reflink idref="bib43" id="ref88">43</reflink>]). According to [<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref89">1</reflink>], as curricular autonomy rose, professionalism and empowerment increased, implying that autonomy might be an encouraging element for empowerment. Teachers may be more likely to stay in the profession and benefit student learning when empowerment is improved ([<reflink idref="bib43" id="ref90">43</reflink>]). Teachers must be viewed as valuable assets and educational professionals. To succeed in a meaningful job, they must have power and independence over their profession. This can improve their sense of organizational commitment and continue to work until their official retirement age. Studies on teachers in Australia and Finland shown that perceived autonomy support is positively and directly associated with adaptability, engagement, and organizational commitment, and negatively associated with exhaustion and disengagement ([<reflink idref="bib9" id="ref91">9</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref92">10</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib53" id="ref93">53</reflink>]). In other words, employees (teachers) who are satisfied with their jobs because of high autonomy prefer a later retirement age ([<reflink idref="bib21" id="ref94">21</reflink>]). These findings indicate the association between autonomy and early retirement intentions. Thus, this study suggests that autonomy significantly impacts teachers' intention to retire early.</p> <p>Employee involvement is the extent to which employers allow or encourage employees to participate in organizational decision-making ([<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref95">33</reflink>]). In other words, it allows employees to have a greater say in decision-making at work. Employers may encourage independent thinking by giving workers more autonomy to choose their own best way to do their job while achieving the desired outcome ([<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref96">27</reflink>]). [<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref97">1</reflink>] also found that teachers who worked in supportive environments made significant contributions to school reform efforts and retention rates can be improved. Teachers will continue working until official retirement age if they feel the shared responsibility and their knowledge and opinions are appreciated by employers. Employee involvement will result in outcomes that benefit everyone in the organization.</p> <p>Thus, previous research findings warrant further exploration of the relationship between teachers' job autonomy and early retirement intentions. Hence, the researchers developed a hypothesis as follows:</p> <p></p> <ulist> <item> HA<subs>3</subs>: There is a significant relationship between autonomy and early retirement intention among primary school teachers in Putrajaya.</item> </ulist> <hd id="AN0193956259-13">Research Framework</hd> <p>The research framework for this study is formed based on the theories and literature review elaborated earlier. The research framework in Figure 5 shows the relationship between health conditions, workload, and autonomy with retirement intention.</p> <hd id="AN0193956259-14">Methodology</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0193956259-15">Population and Sampling</hd> <p>The total population of the study is 1,481 primary school teachers in Putrajaya. The distribution of teachers in 16 primary schools in Putrajaya is shown in Table 1. Putrajaya has been selected as the study location as it recorded the highest (37% or 43,300) annual population growth rate of the population aged 0–14 years old for the 2021–2022 period ([<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref98">14</reflink>]). The unit analysis is the individual teachers working at primary schools in Putrajaya.</p> <p>Table 1. Distribution of teachers in 16 primary schools in Putrajaya</p> <p> <ephtml> <table rules="groups"><colgroup span="1"><col align="left" valign="middle" span="1" /><col align="left" valign="middle" span="1" /><col align="right" valign="middle" span="1" /><col align="right" valign="middle" span="1" /><col align="right" valign="middle" span="1" /></colgroup><thead><tr><th align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1">No.</th><th align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1">School</th><th align="right" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Number of Teachers</th><th align="right" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Number of Students</th><th align="right" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Teacher–Student Ratios</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>Presint 5</bold></td><td align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">1.</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">SK Putrajaya Presint 5(1)</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">115</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">1,865</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">1:16</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>Presint 8</bold></td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">2.</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">SK Putrajaya Presint 8(1)</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> 76</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">1,195</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">1:16</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">3.</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">SK Putrajaya Presint 8(2)</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">113</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">1,657</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">1:15</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">4.</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">SK Putrajaya Presint 8(3)</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> 33</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> 432</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">1:13</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>Presint 9</bold></td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">5.</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">SK Putrajaya Presint 9(1)</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> 79</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">1,315</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">1:17</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">6.</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">SK Putrajaya Presint 9(2)</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">137</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">1,961</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">1:14</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>Presint 11</bold></td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">7.</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">SK Putrajaya Presint 11(1)</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> 81</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">1,335</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">1:16</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">8.</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">SK Putrajaya Presint 11(2)</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">111</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">1,758</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">1:16</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">9.</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">SK Putrajaya Presint 11(3)</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> 99</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">1,468</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">1:15</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>Presint 14</bold></td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">10.</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">SK Putrajaya Presint 14(1)</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">140</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">2,146</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">1:15</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>Presint 15</bold></td><td align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1">11.</td><td align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1">SK Putrajaya Presint 15(1)</td><td align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> 35</td><td align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> 682</td><td align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1">1:19</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>Presint 16</bold></td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">12.</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">SK Putrajaya Presint 16(1)</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> 74</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">1,186</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">1:16</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">13.</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">SK Putrajaya Presint 16(2)</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">109</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">1,715</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">1:16</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>Presint 17</bold></td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">14.</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">SK Putrajaya Presint 17(1)</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> 71</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">1,228</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">1:17</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>Presint 18</bold></td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">15.</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">SK Putrajaya Presint 18(1)</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">155</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">1,865</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">1:12</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">16.</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">SK Putrajaya Presint 18(2)</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> 53</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> 823</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">1:16</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>Total</bold></td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>1,481</bold></td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p> <emph>Source:</emph>[<reflink idref="bib37" id="ref99">37</reflink>].</p> <p>Teachers who are permanently appointed as education services officers (or teachers) between the grades of DG29 and DG54 and responsible for teaching primary school pupils in Putrajaya are the population for this study. This study excludes headmasters and assistant headmasters due to different job scopes and teaching hours. In addition, teachers on a contract basis are also excluded because they are not permanent teachers or civil servants.</p> <p>Based on Table 1, the teacher–student ratios in primary schools in Putrajaya range between 1:12 to 1:19. The indicated ratio is considered small compared to recommendations by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization ([<reflink idref="bib59" id="ref100">59</reflink>]), which is 1:25. The rising enrollment of primary school pupils in Putrajaya has led to the existing classrooms being insufficient to accommodate the growing numbers. This leads to overcrowded classrooms, in which the actual teacher–student ratio exceeds the recommended ratio.</p> <p>The minimum sample size recommended by G*Power software is 119. Oversampling has been applied to avoid a low return rate. The recommended oversampling based on past studies is 40% ([<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref101">15</reflink>]). Therefore, the final distributed questionnaire is 300 (119/0.40 = 297.5≈300).</p> <p>The final data set obtained through stratified random sampling consists of 246 usable responses. Table 2 shows the distribution of respondents according to school in each precinct.</p> <p>Table 2. The distribution of the respondents (<emph>N</emph> = 120)</p> <p> <ephtml> <table rules="groups"><colgroup span="1"><col align="left" valign="middle" span="1" /><col align="center" valign="middle" span="1" /><col align="center" valign="middle" span="1" /></colgroup><thead><tr><th align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1">School</th><th align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Frequency</th><th align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Percentage</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">SKPP 5(1)</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">25</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">10.0</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">SKPP 8(3)</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">11</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">4.2</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">SKPP 9(2)</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">45</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">18.3</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">SKPP 11(3)</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">32</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">13.3</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">SKPP 14(1)</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">32</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">13.3</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">SKPP 15(1)</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">10</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">4.2</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">SKPP 16(2)</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">37</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">15.0</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">SKPP 17(1)</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">17</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">6.7</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">SKPP 18(1)</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">37</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">15.0</td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>The demographic profiles of the respondents are presented in Table 3. The majority of respondents (18.3%) were from SKPP 9(<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref102">2</reflink>), with 85.8% being female teachers aged between 40 and 44 years. Additionally, 85 of the participants are married Malays (95.8%) holding bachelor's degrees and currently serving at grade 41 or higher (97.5%). Over half of the respondents were teachers of subjects, such as English, Malay, mathematics, history, science, and Islamic education. Notably, a significant portion (60.8%) of the respondents had more than 10 years of teaching experience.</p> <p>Table 3. Demographic profile of the respondents (<emph>N</emph> = 246)</p> <p> <ephtml> <table rules="groups"><colgroup span="1"><col align="center" valign="middle" span="1" /><col align="center" valign="middle" span="1" /><col align="center" valign="middle" span="1" /></colgroup><thead><tr><th align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Characteristic</th><th align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Frequency</th><th align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Percentage</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>Gender</bold></td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> Male</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">  35</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">14.2</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> Female</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">211</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">85.8</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>Age (<italic>M</italic></bold> = <bold>39.09, <italic>SD</italic></bold> = <bold>7.69)</bold></td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> 25–29</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">  38</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">15.8</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> 30–34</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">  36</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">15.0</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> 35–39</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">  40</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">16.7</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> 40–44</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">  58</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">24.2</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> 45–49</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">  52</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">21.7</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> 50–54</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">  12</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">5.0</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> 55–59</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">   4</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">1.7</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>Marital Status</bold></td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> Single</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">  32</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">13.3</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> Married</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">204</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">85.0</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> Divorced</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">   4</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">1.7</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>Ethnicity</bold></td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> Malay</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">230</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">95.8</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> Chinese</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">   4</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">1.7</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> Indian</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">   2</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">.8</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> Others</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">   4</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">1.7</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>Highest Education Level</bold></td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> Diploma</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">   6</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">2.5</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> Bachelor's</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">210</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">87.5</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> Master's</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">  24</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">10.0</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>Designation</bold></td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> Teacher</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">228</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">95.0</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> Course Leader</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">  12</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">5.0</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>Grade</bold></td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> DG32</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">   2</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">8.</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> DG34</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">   2</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">8.</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> DG38</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">   2</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">8.</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> DG41</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">  64</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">26.7</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> DG42</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">   4</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">1.7</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> DG44</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">122</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">50.8</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> DG48</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">  44</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">18.3</td></tr><tr><td colspan="4" align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1"><bold>Teaching Experiences (<italic>M</italic></bold> = <bold>13.03, <italic>SD</italic></bold> = <bold>7.34)</bold></td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> 1–5</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">  50</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">20.8</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> 6–10</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">  44</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">18.3</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> 11–15</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">  48</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">20.0</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> 16–20</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">  68</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">28.3</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> 21–25</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">  18</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">7.5</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> 26–30</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">  8</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">3.3</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> 31–35</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">   4</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">1.7</td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <hd id="AN0193956259-16">Instrument</hd> <p>The study instrument (questionnaire) consists of 35 items plus 8 items on demographic profiles that were adapted from existing instruments proven to have high validity and reliability indexes. The questionnaire was also provided in two languages, English and Malay, to facilitate a better understanding of all the questions. Furthermore, all the scales used a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (<emph>strongly disagree</emph>) to 5 (<emph>strongly agree</emph>).</p> <hd id="AN0193956259-17">Early Retirement Intention</hd> <p>Early retirement intention is measured using four items adapted from Hani Nurfaziah (2018) cited in [<reflink idref="bib52" id="ref103">52</reflink>]. For example, "I often think about seeking retirement before the actual retirement age." The reliability of the items was tested in previous studies in which Cronbach's alpha was.95.</p> <hd id="AN0193956259-18">Health Conditions</hd> <p>Health condition is measured with 12 items adapted from the 36-Items Short Form Survey Instrument (SF-36). The SF-36 is a scoring system that comprises 36 items categorized into eight constructs corresponding to health-related quality of life. An example of an item is "I seem to get sick a little easier than other people."</p> <hd id="AN0193956259-19">Workload</hd> <p>Workload is measured with 11 items adapted from the Effort–Reward Imbalance Questionnaire developed by [<reflink idref="bib51" id="ref104">51</reflink>]. This study uses the short version questionnaire as recommended by previous studies. For example, "I have constant time pressure due to a heavy workload."</p> <hd id="AN0193956259-20">Autonomy</hd> <p>In this study, teachers' autonomy is assessed using nine items adapted from the Work Design Questionnaire (WDQ) developed by [<reflink idref="bib40" id="ref105">40</reflink>]. The measurement encompasses three dimensions: work-scheduling autonomy, decision-making autonomy, and work-method autonomy. For instance, three items measure work-scheduling autonomy (e.g., "As a teacher, I have the freedom to decide how to schedule my work"), three items assess decision-making autonomy (e.g., "As a teacher, I can use my personal initiative or judgment to perform my tasks"), and three items evaluate work-method autonomy (e.g., "As a teacher, I have the ability to choose the methods I use to complete my work").</p> <hd id="AN0193956259-21">Internal Reliability</hd> <p>Table 4 shows the overall Cronbach's alpha for the pilot study and the actual study is above 0.7. Thus, all the items are reliable for this study.</p> <p>Table 4. Internal reliability test result for pilot study and actual study</p> <p> <ephtml> <table rules="groups"><colgroup span="1"><col align="center" valign="middle" span="1" /><col align="center" valign="middle" span="1" /><col align="center" valign="middle" span="1" /><col align="center" valign="middle" span="1" /><col align="center" valign="middle" span="1" /></colgroup><thead><tr><th rowspan="2" align="left" valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid black" colspan="1">Variables</th><th colspan="2" align="center" valign="middle" style="border-bottom:1px solid black" rowspan="1">Pilot Study</th><th colspan="2" align="center" valign="middle" style="border-bottom:1px solid black" rowspan="1">Actual Study</th></tr><tr><th align="center" valign="middle" style="border-bottom:1px solid black" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Number of Items</th><th align="center" valign="middle" style="border-bottom:1px solid black" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Cronbach's Alpha</th><th align="center" valign="middle" style="border-bottom:1px solid black" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Number of Items</th><th align="center" valign="middle" style="border-bottom:1px solid black" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Cronbach's Alpha</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Early Retirement Intentions</td><td align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1">  4</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">.816</td><td align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1">  4</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">.789</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Health Conditions</td><td align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1">12</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">.918</td><td align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1">12</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">.874</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Workload</td><td align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1">11</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">.848</td><td align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1">11</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">.876</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Autonomy</td><td align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1">  9</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">.890</td><td align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1">  9</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">.912</td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <hd id="AN0193956259-22">Data Analysis</hd> <p>This study used IBM SPSS version 29 for data analysis. There were no issues of normality, outliers, and multicollinearity detected during the exploratory data analysis stage. Next, data were analyzed descriptively and inferentially to determine the correlation and regression between the studied variables. The effect size of the regression model was determined by referring to the Cohen's <emph>f</emph><sups>2</sups> value as in Table 5.</p> <p>Table 5: Criterion for Cohen's <emph>f</emph><sups>2</sups></p> <p> <ephtml> <table rules="groups"><colgroup span="1"><col align="center" valign="middle" span="1" /><col align="center" valign="middle" span="1" /></colgroup><thead><tr><th align="left" valign="bottom" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><italic>f</italic><sup>2</sup> Value</th><th align="left" valign="bottom" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Effect Size</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">≥.02</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Small</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">≥.15</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Medium</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">≥.35</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Large</td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p> <emph>Source:</emph> Cohen (1988), cited in [<reflink idref="bib49" id="ref106">49</reflink>].</p> <hd id="AN0193956259-23">Results</hd> <p>Presented in the following subsections are the results of the data analyses to test the proposed hypotheses based on the research framework.</p> <hd id="AN0193956259-24">Descriptive Analysis</hd> <p>Table 6 presents the level of all variables, which are categorized into three levels (low, moderate, and high).</p> <p>Table 6. Level of early retirement intentions (<emph>N</emph> = 246)</p> <p> <ephtml> <table rules="groups"><colgroup span="1"><col align="center" valign="middle" span="1" /><col align="center" valign="middle" span="1" /><col align="center" valign="middle" span="1" /><col align="center" valign="middle" span="1" /><col align="center" valign="middle" span="1" /></colgroup><thead><tr><th align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Variable/Level</th><th align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Frequency</th><th align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Percentage</th><th align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Mean</th><th align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Standard Deviation</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>Early Retirement Intentions</bold></td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">2.70</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">.96</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> Low (1.00–2.33)</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">  92</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">37.5</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> Moderate (2.331–3.66)</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">107</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">43.3</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> High (3.661–5.00)</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">  47</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">19.2</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>Health Conditions</bold></td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">2.18</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">.60</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> Low (1.00–2.33)</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">133</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">54.2</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> Moderate (2.331–3.66)</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">113</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">45.8</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> High (3.661–5.00)</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">   –</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">  –</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>Workload</bold></td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">3.02</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">.68</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> Low (1.00–2.33)</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">  39</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">15.8</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> Moderate (2.331–3.66)</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">172</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">70.0</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> High (3.661–5.00)</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">  35</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">14.2</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><bold>Autonomy</bold></td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">3.34</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">.67</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> Low (1.00–2.33)</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">  16</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">6.7</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> Moderate (2.331–3.66)</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">148</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">60.0</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1"> High (3.661–5.00)</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">  82</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">33.3</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>As shown in Table 6, early retirement intentions, health conditions, workload, and job autonomy among teachers are at a moderate level.</p> <hd id="AN0193956259-25">Correlations</hd> <p>The Pearson correlation coefficient was employed to determine the association between two variables (one dependent variable and one independent variable). This analysis also tests the hypothesis developed in this study. The strength and direction of the relationship of the variables are presented in Table 7.</p> <p>Table 7. Correlation between independent variables and early retirement intentions</p> <p> <ephtml> <table rules="groups"><colgroup span="1"><col align="center" valign="middle" span="1" /><col align="center" valign="middle" span="1" /><col align="center" valign="middle" span="1" /><col align="center" valign="middle" span="1" /></colgroup><thead><tr><th align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Variable</th><th align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><italic>r</italic></th><th align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><italic>p</italic></th><th align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Strength</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Health Conditions</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">.427<xref ref-type="table-fn" rid="tfn1">**</xref></td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">.000</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Moderate</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Workload</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">.470<xref ref-type="table-fn" rid="tfn1">**</xref></td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">.000</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Moderate</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Autonomy</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">−.052</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">.574</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Negligible</td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>1 ** Correlation is significant at the.01 level (two-tailed).</p> <p>In this study, it was indicated that there was a positive, significant, and moderate correlation between health conditions and early retirement intentions (<emph>r</emph> = .427, <emph>p</emph> = .000) and between workload and early retirement intentions (<emph>r</emph> = .470, <emph>p</emph> = .000). These findings therefore support HA<subs>1</subs> and HA<subs>2</subs>. The results however failed to support HA<subs>3</subs>.</p> <hd id="AN0193956259-26">Regression Model</hd> <p>The regression analysis presented in Table 8 was statistically significant, <emph>R</emph><sups>2</sups> = .273, <emph>F</emph>(<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref107">3</reflink>, 116) = 14.535, <emph>p</emph> = .000 < .05). Health conditions, workload, and autonomy collectively accounted for 27.3% of the variance in early retirement intentions. The findings revealed a significant positive effect of workload (<emph>t</emph> = 3.784, <emph>p</emph> = .000) and health conditions (<emph>t</emph> = 2.785, <emph>p</emph> = .006) on early retirement intentions. Conversely, autonomy did not show a significant contribution to early retirement intentions (<emph>t</emph> = 0.492, <emph>p</emph> = .623).</p> <p>Table 8. Results of multiple linear regression analysis</p> <p> <ephtml> <table rules="groups"><colgroup span="1"><col align="center" valign="middle" span="1" /><col align="center" valign="top" span="1" /><col align="center" valign="top" span="1" /><col align="center" valign="top" span="1" /><col align="center" valign="middle" span="1" /><col align="center" valign="middle" span="1" /></colgroup><thead><tr><th align="center" valign="bottom" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><th colspan="2" align="center" valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid black" rowspan="1">Unstandardized Coefficients</th><th align="left" valign="bottom" style="border-bottom:1px solid black" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Standardized Coefficients</th></tr><tr><th align="left" valign="bottom" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Variable</th><th align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><italic>B</italic></th><th align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Std. Error</th><th align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1">β</th><th align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><italic>t</italic></th><th align="left" valign="middle" rowspan="1" colspan="1"><italic>Sig. p</italic></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">(Constant)</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">.133</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">.586</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1" /><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">.226</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">.821</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Health Conditions</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">.405</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">.145</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">.254</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">2.785</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">.006</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Workload</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">.495</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">.131</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">.354</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">3.784</td><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">< .001</td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Autonomy</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">.058</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">.117</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">.040</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">.492</td><td char="." align="char" valign="top" rowspan="1" colspan="1">.623</td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p> <emph>Note. R</emph> = .523, <emph>R</emph><sups>2</sups> = .273, Adj. <emph>R</emph><sups>2</sups> = .254, <emph>F</emph> = 14.535, Sig. <emph>F</emph> = .000.</p> <p>Referring to the standardized coefficient (β) value, it indicated that 35.4% (β = .354) variance in early retirement intentions is contributed by workload, which is the most contributing factor. Meanwhile, health condition was the second contributing factor (β = .254). Based on Table 5, the effect size (<emph>f</emph><sups>2</sups> = .376) or strength of the relationship between the two variables is considered large.</p> <hd id="AN0193956259-27">Discussion</hd> <p>This study examined the relationships among health, workload, autonomy, and early retirement intentions among primary school teachers in Putrajaya, Malaysia. The key findings are summarized as follows. First, it was found that the notions of health and workload positively influenced early retirement intention. However, the notion of job autonomy was found to not significantly influence retirement intention. The study implied that health problems contribute to the desire for early retirement. This result is consistent with past studies ([<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref108">3</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib58" id="ref109">58</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib64" id="ref110">64</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib68" id="ref111">68</reflink>]; [<reflink idref="bib69" id="ref112">69</reflink>]) which revealed that health has a significant relationship with the intention to retire early. Furthermore, the higher the workload faced by teachers, the higher their intention to retire early. This finding is supported by [<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref113">8</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib25" id="ref114">25</reflink>], and [<reflink idref="bib31" id="ref115">31</reflink>] in their study that reported a significant correlation between workload and early retirement intentions due to higher levels of workload ([<reflink idref="bib46" id="ref116">46</reflink>]), administrative tasks ([<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref117">16</reflink>]) and deal with misbehaving pupils. Our findings demonstrate how the BRM ([<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref118">6</reflink>]) and JD-R theory ([<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref119">13</reflink>]) can be applied to primary school teachers' early retirement decisions. The results highlight that high job demands, such as workload, can lead to health deterioration, ultimately contributing to negative outcomes like early retirement intentions.</p> <hd id="AN0193956259-28">Implications of the Study</hd> <p>This study validates the integration of the BRM ([<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref120">6</reflink>]) and the JD-R theory ([<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref121">13</reflink>]) as an effective framework for explaining early retirement intentions. These two frameworks complement each other by illustrating how personal factors (e.g., health conditions) and environmental factors (e.g., workload and autonomy) influence the decision to retire early. Additionally, the study enhances understanding of this phenomenon by emphasizing personal factors, as previous research in Malaysia has predominantly focused on work-related aspects.</p> <p>The findings contribute valuable insights to the existing body of literature by examining the roles of health conditions, workload, and autonomy in shaping early retirement intentions, particularly among primary school teachers in Putrajaya. While early retirement intentions are highlighted within the teaching profession, this issue extends to other occupations, such as police force, nursing, banking, and more. Thus, the findings offer a foundation for future research across various professions and locations.</p> <p>Significantly, this study addresses a critical concern in Malaysia's education sector—early retirement leading to a shortage of skilled teachers. The study provides the MOE with an understanding of early retirement trends among primary school teachers and the factors contributing to these intentions. The moderate level of early retirement intention reported in this study warrants serious attention from the MOE. As the policymaker, the MOE is tasked with formulating strategies to alleviate teacher workloads and foster a healthier working environment, benefiting both teachers and students. For instance, introducing a teacher assistant role to manage administrative tasks could be a helpful initiative. Moreover, developing an overtime allowance for teachers who work extra hours, particularly on weekends, could enhance teacher satisfaction and retention. Moreover, the government and policymakers should develop a more competitive incentive policy aimed at retaining high-demand teachers nearing retirement, serving as a strategy to prolong the careers of current educators ([<reflink idref="bib30" id="ref122">30</reflink>]).</p> <p>This study also underscores the importance of streamlining the implementation of constantly evolving educational initiatives to reduce teacher burdens and mitigate early retirement intentions. Retaining experienced teachers aligns with the fourth shift of the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013–2025, which emphasizes the development of competent and high-quality educators. Furthermore, the findings highlight the significance of teacher engagement in decision-making and the execution of educational reforms. Granting teachers greater autonomy and independence supports the professionalism of the teaching profession and fosters a positive perception of teaching as a desirable career.</p> <p>In addition, the research provides practical insights into the factors influencing early retirement intentions among Malaysian teachers. Prospective teachers can use this information to better understand the challenges and demands of the profession, equipping themselves for the realities of teaching before entering the field. Conversely, it is equally important to plan for retirement. Financial planning, in particular, is essential for those choosing to retire. Hence, various initiatives should be implemented to increase awareness among teachers about retirement financial preparation, including early identification of retirement plan options, monthly contributions, and planning for life after retirement.</p> <p>Finally, private organizations and human resource practitioners facing turnover or early retirements among employees may benefit from this study by addressing personal and work-related factors to retain skilled workers until their official retirement age.</p> <hd id="AN0193956259-29">Limitations and Recommendations for Future Research</hd> <p>This study acknowledges that it examines early retirement intentions rather than actual retirement decisions. While the findings provide valuable insights into teachers' intentions, which are strong predictors of actual early retirement decisions, further research is necessary to gain a deeper understanding of teachers' actual retirement behavior. Regarding the variables, this study focuses on selected factors influencing early retirement intentions, highlighting relationships among these specific factors. However, additional factors, such as skill obsolescence, family circumstances, work fatigue, organizational restructuring, incentive policies for teachers, financial preparation for retirements, social support, and organizational support could be explored to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon.</p> <p>Moreover, the study is limited to primary school teachers in Putrajaya, making its findings specific to this group and not generalizable to other types of schools, such as boarding schools, charter schools, special needs schools, or private schools. Differences in school environments, infrastructure, and geographic locations may influence responses and outcomes.</p> <p>This research also employs a quantitative approach, relying on structured questionnaires, which may limit the depth of insights compared to qualitative methods that offer a more nuanced understanding of factors driving early retirement intentions. Additionally, the responses depend on participants' willingness to complete the questionnaire. Therefore, a mixed-methods design combining quantitative and qualitative approaches is recommended for future studies to gain a more holistic understanding of this issue.</p> <p>Furthermore, the study found that autonomy did not have a significant impact on early retirement intentions. Previous research indicates that the relationship between job autonomy and retention intentions can be mediated by employee engagement ([<reflink idref="bib42" id="ref123">42</reflink>]). This is supported by [<reflink idref="bib54" id="ref124">54</reflink>], who found that autonomy positively predicts teacher engagement levels. Future studies could expand the research model by including mediators or moderators to uncover more nuanced and interesting findings.</p> <hd id="AN0193956259-30">Funding Declaration</hd> <p>This study was sponsored by Malaysia Public Service Department under Federal Training Fund.</p> <hd id="AN0193956259-31">Ethics Declaration</hd> <p>All procedures performed in this study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.</p> <p>All participants gave their consent for participation in this study.</p> <hd id="AN0193956259-32">Conflicts of Interest</hd> <p>The authors declare no conflicts of interest.</p> <ref id="AN0193956259-33"> <title> References </title> <blist> <bibl id="bib1" idref="ref89" type="bt">1</bibl> <bibtext> Ahrari, S., Roslan, S., Zaremohzzabieh, Z., Mohd Rasdi, R., & Abu Samah, A. (2021). 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She previously pursued her Master's degree under the Department of Professional Development and Continuing Education, Faculty of Educational Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia.</p> <p>Siti Noormi Alias currently works at the Department of Professional Development and Continuing Education, Faculty of Educational Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia. She is actively involved in research and consultancy works in the field of corporate social responsibility, gender, and performance management.</p> <p>Abu Bakar Razali currently works at the Department of Language and Humanities Education, Universiti Putra Malaysia. Abu Bakar does research on Teaching of English as a Second Language and language and literacy education, particularly on reading and writing and the teaching of reading and writing. He is also interested in Educational Technology and Popular Culture in language education.</p> </aug> <nolink nlid="nl1" bibid="bib55" firstref="ref2"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl2" bibid="bib57" firstref="ref3"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl3" bibid="bib41" firstref="ref4"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl4" bibid="bib35" firstref="ref5"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl5" bibid="bib25" firstref="ref7"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl6" bibid="bib62" firstref="ref8"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl7" bibid="bib45" firstref="ref9"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl8" bibid="bib30" firstref="ref10"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl9" bibid="bib19" firstref="ref11"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl10" bibid="bib37" firstref="ref12"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl11" bibid="bib20" firstref="ref13"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl12" bibid="bib63" firstref="ref15"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl13" bibid="bib34" firstref="ref21"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl14" bibid="bib43" firstref="ref22"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl15" bibid="bib31" firstref="ref23"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl16" bibid="bib46" firstref="ref24"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl17" bibid="bib36" firstref="ref25"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl18" bibid="bib56" firstref="ref28"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl19" bibid="bib50" firstref="ref29"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl20" bibid="bib39" firstref="ref30"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl21" bibid="bib22" firstref="ref31"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl22" bibid="bib38" firstref="ref32"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl23" bibid="bib26" firstref="ref33"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl24" bibid="bib29" firstref="ref34"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl25" bibid="bib13" firstref="ref42"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl26" bibid="bib17" firstref="ref44"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl27" bibid="bib64" firstref="ref45"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl28" bibid="bib28" firstref="ref48"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl29" bibid="bib67" firstref="ref49"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl30" bibid="bib23" firstref="ref57"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl31" bibid="bib11" firstref="ref58"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl32" bibid="bib48" firstref="ref59"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl33" bibid="bib52" firstref="ref60"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl34" bibid="bib65" firstref="ref62"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl35" bibid="bib66" firstref="ref63"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl36" bibid="bib68" firstref="ref64"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl37" bibid="bib69" firstref="ref68"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl38" bibid="bib12" firstref="ref69"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl39" bibid="bib60" firstref="ref70"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl40" bibid="bib61" firstref="ref71"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl41" bibid="bib58" firstref="ref73"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl42" bibid="bib18" firstref="ref74"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl43" bibid="bib44" firstref="ref79"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl44" bibid="bib47" firstref="ref81"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl45" bibid="bib16" firstref="ref85"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl46" bibid="bib24" firstref="ref86"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl47" bibid="bib33" firstref="ref87"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl48" bibid="bib10" firstref="ref92"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl49" bibid="bib53" firstref="ref93"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl50" bibid="bib21" firstref="ref94"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl51" bibid="bib27" firstref="ref96"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl52" bibid="bib14" firstref="ref98"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl53" bibid="bib59" firstref="ref100"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl54" bibid="bib15" firstref="ref101"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl55" bibid="bib51" firstref="ref104"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl56" bibid="bib40" firstref="ref105"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl57" bibid="bib49" firstref="ref106"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl58" bibid="bib42" firstref="ref123"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl59" bibid="bib54" firstref="ref124"></nolink>
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Items – Name: Title
  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: Health, Workload, and Autonomy: Key Factors Driving Early Retirement Intentions among Putrajaya Primary School Teachers
– Name: Language
  Label: Language
  Group: Lang
  Data: English
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Nor+Lida+Azizi%22">Nor Lida Azizi</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Siti+Noormi+Alias%22">Siti Noormi Alias</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Abu+Bakar+Razali%22">Abu Bakar Razali</searchLink>
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  Label: Source
  Group: Src
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22Journal+of+Education+Human+Resources%22"><i>Journal of Education Human Resources</i></searchLink>. 2026 44(2):424-450.
– Name: Avail
  Label: Availability
  Group: Avail
  Data: University of Toronto Press. 5201 Dufferin Street, Toronto, ON M3H 5T8, Canada. Tel: 416-667-7810; Fax: 800-221-9985; Fax: 416-667-7881; e-mail: journals@utpress.utoronco.ca; Web site: https://www.utpjournals.press/loi/jehr
– Name: PeerReviewed
  Label: Peer Reviewed
  Group: SrcInfo
  Data: Y
– Name: Pages
  Label: Page Count
  Group: Src
  Data: 27
– Name: DatePubCY
  Label: Publication Date
  Group: Date
  Data: 2026
– Name: TypeDocument
  Label: Document Type
  Group: TypDoc
  Data: Journal Articles<br />Reports - Research
– Name: Audience
  Label: Education Level
  Group: Audnce
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Elementary+Education%22">Elementary Education</searchLink>
– Name: Subject
  Label: Descriptors
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Elementary+School+Teachers%22">Elementary School Teachers</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Teacher+Retirement%22">Teacher Retirement</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Foreign+Countries%22">Foreign Countries</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Intention%22">Intention</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Influences%22">Influences</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Health+Conditions%22">Health Conditions</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Teaching+Load%22">Teaching Load</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Professional+Autonomy%22">Professional Autonomy</searchLink>
– Name: Subject
  Label: Geographic Terms
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Malaysia%22">Malaysia</searchLink>
– Name: DOI
  Label: DOI
  Group: ID
  Data: 10.3138/jehr-2024-0084
– Name: ISSN
  Label: ISSN
  Group: ISSN
  Data: 2562-783X
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: Early retirement intention is one of the critical phenomena happening to teachers globally. Malaysia also faces a similar issue, whereby the number of teachers applying for early retirement keeps increasing year after year, leaving vacant teaching positions all over the country. Consequently, underpinned by the Beehr Retirement Model and the job demands-resources theory, this study is conducted to examine factors that influence the intention to retire early among primary school teachers in Putrajaya, Malaysia. A total of 246 responses from a population of 1,481 teachers in Putrajaya were collected and analyzed through a correlational research design study. This study found that health conditions and workload have a significant and positive relationship with early retirement intentions, in which workload was the most contributing factor to early retirement intentions among primary school teachers. This study contributes valuable insights to the literature as well as other important stakeholders in understanding the factors of early retirement in the hope that they would be able to take necessary actions to overcome this issue in the future.
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  Data: 2026
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  Data: EJ1508447
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  BibEntity:
    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.3138/jehr-2024-0084
    Languages:
      – Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 27
        StartPage: 424
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Elementary School Teachers
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Teacher Retirement
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Foreign Countries
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Intention
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Influences
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Health Conditions
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Teaching Load
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Professional Autonomy
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Malaysia
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Health, Workload, and Autonomy: Key Factors Driving Early Retirement Intentions among Putrajaya Primary School Teachers
        Type: main
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          Name:
            NameFull: Nor Lida Azizi
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            NameFull: Siti Noormi Alias
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            NameFull: Abu Bakar Razali
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            – D: 01
              M: 01
              Type: published
              Y: 2026
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            – TitleFull: Journal of Education Human Resources
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