Employee turnover poses a disproportionate challenge to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), whose limited staffing and financial resources make the loss of experienced employees particularly costly. Although strategic orientation is widely examined as a driver of organizational performance, its employee-level implications remain underexplored. This study investigates whether employees’ perceptions of market orientation and innovation orientation reduce turnover intention in Vietnamese MSMEs. Survey data from 361 employees were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. The measurement model demonstrated satisfactory reliability and validity. Market orientation had a significant negative effect on turnover intention (β = −0.140, t = 3.690, p < 0.001), while innovation orientation produced a stronger negative effect (β = −0.219, t = 4.390, p < 0.001). The findings indicate that strategic orientation is not only a firm-level competitive posture but also an organizational signal that shapes employees’ evaluations of clarity, support, learning opportunities, and future prospects. The study extends strategic-orientation research to employee retention in an emerging-economy MSME context and suggests that managers should combine market responsiveness with adequate coordination, resources, psychological safety, and opportunities for employee participation.