Engaging Hotel Employees in the Era of Artificial Intelligence: The Interplay of Artificial Intelligence Awareness, Job Insecurity, and Technical Self-Efficacy

This study investigates the impact of artificial intelligence awareness (AIA) on employees' job engagement (EJE) in the hotel industry, focusing on the mediating role of job insecurity (JI) and the moderating role of technical self-efficacy (TSE). Drawing on the Expectancy theory and Affective Events theory, the study proposes a mediated moderation model and tests it using PLS-SEM on a sample of 390 full-time employees from five-star hotels in Egypt. The results confirm that AIA negatively influences EJE and positively influences JI, while JI negatively influences EJE and mediates the AIA→EJE relationship. Furthermore, TSE negatively moderates the AIA→JI relationship, mitigating the negative impact of AIA on JI. The findings highlight the importance of addressing employees' AIrelated concerns and leveraging their technical self-efficacy to maintain job engagement and security in the face of technological disruptions. The study contributes to the literature by extending the application of the Expectancy theory and Affective Events theory to the context of AI adoption in the hotel industry and offers practical implications for hotel managers and HR professionals.