Toward Sustainable Human Resource Development: The Influence of Workplace Friendship on Early Childhood Educators’ Retention Intention, with Workplace Well-Being and Job Embeddedness as Parallel Mediators

Within the context of sustainable educational workforce development, enhancing the retention intention of early childhood educators is essential for ensuring educational quality and long-term talent sustainability. This study surveyed 200 early childhood educators in Taiwan and developed a parallel mediation model to examine how workplace friendship influences retention intention through workplace well-being and job embeddedness. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were conducted using AMOS 24.0. The results indicate that workplace friendship does not exert a direct effect on retention intention; however, it significantly enhances workplace well-being and job embeddedness, which in turn fully mediate the relationship. In line with the JD-R framework, workplace well-being is conceptualized as a core psychological resource, while job embeddedness reflects a structural resource shaping employees’ attachment to their organization. These findings suggest that workplace friendship must be transformed into a psychological and structural resource in order to promote retention. By identifying workplace friendship as an initial social resource that fosters well-being and embeddedness, this study contributes to sustainable human resource management and supports the stable development of the early childhood education system.