Engineers Turned Entrepreneurs: Unlocking Talent Retention through Entrepreneurial Orientation

The dual role of engineers as entrepreneurs is rarely utilized, often leading to inadequate in-house entrepreneurial orientation (EO) activities. This oversight hampers the development of potential entrepreneurs needed to drive organizational advancements in high technology and innovation. Rapid technological changes have reshaped engineers’ career expectations, emphasizing the need for enhanced skills and broader competencies to meet evolving industry demands. A decline in individual-level EO has been linked to engineers’ increased intention to leave their current roles. The objectives of this study are to investigate the role of engineers as entrepreneurs and to develop a conceptual framework that elucidates the relationship between individual dimensions of EO dimensions including innovativeness, proactiveness, autonomy, and risk-taking, and talent retention among engineers. This quantitative study adopts purposive sampling methods among manufacturing engineers located in Southern Region of Malaysia. The data will be analysed using PLS-SEM approach with SmartPLS. The findings highlight that engineers’ entrepreneurial roles are crucial for addressing engineering challenges, with these dual roles enhancing both technical and non-technical skills. Strong evidence supports using individual EO dimensions to assess engineers’ entrepreneurial behaviors and predict positive intentions to remain employed. Understanding these behaviors is essential for boosting career satisfaction and retention, thereby fostering organizational innovation and growth.