Journal of Business and Management Studies ISSN: 2709-0876 DOI: 10.32996/jbms Journal Homepage: www.al-kindipublisher.com/index.php/jbms JBMS AL-KINDI CENTER FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT Copyright: © 2022 the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Published by Al-Kindi Centre for Research and Development, London, United Kingdom. Page | 8 | RESEARCH ARTICLE Determinants of Employee Retention in Pharmaceutical Companies: Case of Saudi Arabia Majed Alshamrani 1 ✉ Sager Alharthi 2 , Majed Helmi 3 and Tariq Alwadei 4 1 Business Administration Department, College of Administrative and Financial Sciences, Saudi Electronic University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; Pharmaceutical Care Services, King Abdelaziz Medical City, Ministry of National Guard-Health Affairs, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia 2 Pharmaceutical Care Services, King Abdelaziz Medical City, Ministry of National Guard-Health Affairs, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia 3 Business Administration Department, College of Administrative and Financial Sciences, Saudi Electronic University, Madinah, Saudi Arabia 4 Commercial Department, Amgen Saudi Limited Company, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Corresponding Author: Majed Alshamrani, E-mail: shamranima01@mngha.med.sa | ABSTRACT Saudi Arabia's fast-growing pharmaceutical market aims to retain employees to increase organizational effectiveness and reduce attrition costs. This study aimed to investigate employee retention determinants in Saudi pharmaceutical companies. In total, 325 responses were collected and analysed. Quantitative research was conducted using an electronic survey sent to Saudi pharmaceutical employees through different social media platforms. Different variables were collected from the survey tool using several question formats. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis. Six determinants were identified to have a positive correlation with employee retention: salary/benefits, job/work conditions, work relationships, company culture, motivation, and leadership within the company. The motivation was a key factor influencing employee retention. Nearly 52.1% to 91.1% of employee retention was explained by the aforementioned determinants. Job/work conditions and motivation in the company were significant positive predictors of employee retention. Our study showed a significant relationship between salary/employee benefits, motivation, work conditions, organizational culture, leadership support, and employee retention in pharmaceutical companies in Saudi Arabia. Leaders in Saudi pharmaceutical companies should maintain long-term staff retention to boost organizational performance and minimise the cost of employee attrition. | KEYWORDS Determinants, Employee Retention, Saudi, Pharmaceutical Companies | ARTICLE INFORMATION ACCEPTED: 15 February 2023 PUBLISHED: 03 March 2023 DOI: 10.32996/jbms.2023.5.2.2 1. Introduction The pharmaceutical industry is recognised as one of the most powerful industries worldwide. The global pharmaceutical market has expanded tremendously in recent years. The global pharmaceutical market was estimated to be worth approximately 1.27 trillion dollars by the end of 2020 (Mikulic, 2021). The Saudi pharmaceutical market is considered one of the fastest-growing markets today, with more than 40 registered pharmaceutical factories covering 36% of the local market's need for medicines. The Saudi pharmaceutical industry employs around 6896 workers, which is 28.3% of the total number of pharmacists (AlRuthia et al., 2018). The pharmaceutical industry is regulated jointly by the government and private sectors, primarily by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) in conjunction with the Ministry of Health (MOH) (Tawfik et al., 2021). The extensive investment in research and development is coupled with a heavy investment in human resources in the pharmaceutical industry. Human resources are critical in the pharmaceutical sector to develop knowledge and lead the innovation process. Consequently, on the knowledge creation front, the industry's presence leads to information diffusion in the workforce, with people working for a pharmaceutical