Understanding IT-Specific Job Embeddedness to Prevent Turnover of IT Professionals

Abstract

A large number of job alternatives, work exhaustion and shock events like project failures lead to particularly high turnover rates in IT. When coping with this issue, organizations cannot always directly influence the aforementioned antecedents. However, they can help IT professionals build resilience against shock events by increasing job embeddedness. In our study, we identify IT-specific job embeddedness factors and investigate their influence on the turnover behavior of IT professionals with a large archival dataset provided by a German IT organization. By analyzing more than 1,500 turnover cases of IT professionals between 2008 and 2012, we examine the influence of five IT-specific job embeddedness factors on IT workforce. Using a survival analysis, we demonstrate that parallel projects, a high number of coworkers, training, and location significantly affect IT turnover. Surprisingly, we could not measure any effects of promising career prospects within the organization. Our study contributes to the turnover literature by identifying IT-specific job embeddedness, demonstrating its influence on turnover and as a result suggesting factors to counteract the negative effects of shocks in the IT environment.