| Summary: | The present study focuses on the determinants of withdrawal underlying the constant growth of the turnover rate among French volunteer firefighters. Only a few studies have examined work-life balance as a potential reason for withdrawal by volunteer firefighters who are all the more vulnerable to being exposed to an imbalance. The present study examines a model of withdrawal determinants in which work-life imbalance leads to exhaustion and lowers levels of satisfaction regarding firefighting, thus resulting in an increased intention to quit. The data were collected from 183 volunteer firefighters in a French fire department and were further processed via structural equation modelling of the relationship between latent variables. Our findings show that work-life imbalance (both strain- and time-based) predicts the French firefighters’ intention to leave their job, two forms of imbalance being predicted in different ways. The effect of strain-based imbalance on withdrawal intention is doubly mediated, first by exhaustion, and second by decreased satisfaction in the volunteering activity. The effect of time-based imbalance on the intention to quit is direct. The results as well as possible avenues for intervention are discussed. Given a constant growth of turnover rate in volunteer firefighters, current research focuses on withdrawal determinants. A few studies consider work-life balance as a potential reason for withdrawal in spite of the known risk of work-life imbalance in volunteer firefighter. The present study examines a model of withdrawal determinants, where work-life imbalance causes exhaustion and lowers levels of satisfaction in firefighting activity, thus resulting in higher levels of intention to quit. The data were collected from 183 volunteer firefighters of a French fire department and further processed via structural equation modelling in latent variables. Our findings show that work-life imbalance (both, strain and time-based) predict intention to leave in Frenh firefighters although in different ways for two forms of imbalance. The effect of strain-based imbalance onto turnover intention is double mediate, first by exhaustion, second, by satisfaction in volunteering activity. That of time-based imbalance onto turnover intention is direct. The results as well as further perspectives are discussed.
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