Job Embeddedness of Information Technology Professionals: The Effects of Gender

Abstract

There is a growing need to meet the demand for information technology (IT) professionals at a time when supply is not only failing to keep pace with the growth in the IT sector, but also as IT workers are finding many opportunities to move from one job to another. It is imperative that organizations find ways to retain these valuable and skilled employees. One construct that has been introduced to measure reasons employees choose to stay in their current position is job embeddedness. This research explores the effect of gender on the dimensions of job embeddedness, including an employee's fit with the organization, potential sacrifice involved in leaving, and links to others in the organization. Using data collected from a survey of a large government agency, we found that there are significant differences between males and females in terms of job embeddedness.