Purpose: This study examines the effects of job demands and work-life balance on burnout through emotional pathways among secretariat employees. It aims to explain whether emotional pathways mediate the relationship between workplace conditions and burnout in administrative support roles.
Methodology: This study employs a quantitative explanatory design using survey data from 138 valid respondents. Data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with SmartPLS 3.0 to assess the measurement model, structural model, direct effects, and mediation effects.
Results: Job demands significantly increase burnout and emotional pathways, indicating that higher administrative pressure, task urgency, and responsibility intensity contribute to employee strain. Unexpectedly, work-life balance positively affects burnout, suggesting that balance efforts may not reduce burnout when occupational pressure remains unresolved. Emotional pathways do not significantly affect burnout and do not mediate the relationship between job demands, work-life balance, and burnout.
Conclusion: This study concludes that job demands are the most consistent predictor of burnout among secretariat employees. Burnout is primarily driven by persistent workplace demands rather than emotional mechanisms. These findings highlight the importance of managing workload and improving organizational conditions to reduce employee burnout.
Limitations: This cross-sectional study is limited to secretariat employees in a specific organizational context, restricting causal interpretation and generalizability. Future studies should examine broader occupational groups and diverse settings.
Contribution: This study contributes to burnout literature by highlighting secretariat employees as an underexplored occupational group and demonstrating that direct workplace factors explain burnout more strongly than emotional mediation mechanisms.