Voluntary Job Changes Research Articles

From job crafting to job quitting? Testing a wise proactivity perspective

PurposeThis study investigates when and for whom job crafting may turn into job quitting. The authors hypothesize that approach job crafting relates more positively to turnover intentions and subsequent voluntary job changes among employees with (a) high (vs low) need for career challenges and (b) those with high (vs low) self-esteem.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 575 employees of a large public organization in the Netherlands with two measurement moments three months apart. Hypotheses were tested using cross-lagged regression analyses and path modeling.FindingsSupporting the hypotheses, approach crafting related positively to an increase in turnover intentions only among employees with high need for challenge or high self-esteem. Moreover, via turnover intentions at Time 1, approach crafting related positively to the voluntary job change at Time 2 for employees with (a) high need for challenge, as well as those with (b) high self-esteem. These findings held after controlling for avoidance crafting.Research limitations/implicationsThis study has been conducted in a relatively homogenous sample. Future research may test the predictions in a more heterogeneous sample, including participants from different cultural and economic contexts.Practical implicationsThe authors advise human resource (HR) professionals to facilitate the job crafting efforts of employees with a high need for challenge and those with high self-esteem because these groups are particularly at risk of voluntarily quitting their jobs. Adopting insights from the wise proactivity model may help ensure that job crafting benefits both employees and employers.Originality/valueThis study brings clarity to the inconsistent relationships between job crafting and job quitting by using the wise proactivity model as an explanatory framework.

Effects of Dependent Health Insurance Coverage Mandates on Fathers’ Job Mobility and Compensation

Due to the low rates of health insurance coverage among young adults, some state governments began mandating health insurance companies to allow adult children to stay on their parents’ health insurance plans. First implemented in 1995, these mandates aimed to increase insurance coverage among young adults. In 2010, the federal government enacted a more comprehensive version of the dependent coverage mandate as part of the Affordable Care Act. These stateand federal-level efforts increased insurance rates for young adults, but they might have also come with unintended consequences for parents. Parents who placed a high value on health insurance for their young adult children might be reluctant to leave jobs with employerprovided health insurance, and employers might offset the mandate-incurred health care costs by reducing other types of employee benefits or earnings. To assess the extent of such consequences, I study the effects of both the state- and federal-dependent health insurance mandates on fathers’ voluntary job separation rates (job-lock and job-push) and changes in their compensation. I observe a significant decrease in the likelihood of voluntary job separation among eligible working fathers aged 45–64 and find weak evidence that the mandates reduced certain fathers’ total monetary compensation.

Cross-lagged effects of voluntary job changes and well-being: A continuous time approach.

Well-being plays an important role in organizational entry and exit processes. However, longitudinal research on the relationship between voluntary job change and well-being is still sparse, and focuses on rather short time intervals (max. 3 years). Using 12 waves of the Household, Income, and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey, the present study extends previous research by examining whether and how well-being is affected by a voluntary external job change, and vice versa. We tested cross-lagged effects between voluntary job change and well-being (job satisfaction, vitality, sense of belonging) with a sample of 2,565 workers, and between job change and work-family conflicts as another indicator for well-being with a sample of 1,574 working parents. Results of continuous time modeling revealed that job change predicted decreased job satisfaction and vitality and increased work-family conflicts. Job change had no significant effect on the sense of belonging. The strongest relations between job change and well-being were observed in the first 5 years after an organizational entry (job satisfaction 1 year 2 months; vitality 4 years 4 months; work-family strains 3 years 5 months; sense of belonging 3 years 8 months). Job change had no significant effect on the sense of belonging. We also found partial support for reverse effects: Increased job satisfaction made a job change less likely (strongest effect after 2 years) and higher work-family conflicts more likely (strongest effect after 4 years). Thus, the results indicate when it is especially important to support newcomers to improve adjustment and prevent quitting. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Work changes and employee age, maladaptive coping expectations, and well-being: a Swedish cohort study

PurposeOlder workers are expected to suffer more from work changes than younger ones, but empirical evidence is lacking. Negative responses to work changes may result rather from maladaptive coping expectations. This study examined possible age differences in job and life satisfaction, and sleep disturbances, after work changes (voluntary and involuntary job changes, reorganizations) and the moderating role of maladaptive coping expectations.MethodsFour biennial waves from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH) including respondents who participated in all four waves (n = 3084). We used multilevel path analyses to estimate direct and moderated relationships between work changes and outcomes.ResultsInvoluntary job changes were associated with lower job and life satisfaction and more sleep disturbances. Reorganizations were only associated with lower job satisfaction. Older employees were more satisfied with their jobs and lives than younger employees and experienced more sleep disturbances. After involuntary job changes, older employees had similar (lower) levels of well-being as younger ones, but they reported more sleep disturbances when having experienced reorganizations. Maladaptive coping expectations were related to lower job and life satisfaction and more sleep disturbances. Employees with maladaptive coping expectations reported more sleep disturbances after involuntary job changes and reorganizations.ConclusionOur results suggest that there are few age differences in well-being after work changes. Employee well-being seems to mostly depend on maladaptive coping expectations. Organizations aiming to prepare employees for job changes and reorganizations could focus their efforts on employees with maladaptive expectations rather than on older ones.

Supplemental Material for Cross-Lagged Effects of Voluntary Job Changes and Well-Being: A Continuous Time Approach

Supplemental Material for Cross-Lagged Effects of Voluntary Job Changes and Well-Being: A Continuous Time Approach

Social origin and compensation patterns over the occupational career in Italy

This paper studies dynamically the direct effect of social origin on occupational destinations among men in Italy over the career. It aims at investigating the existence, the pattern over time and the heterogeneity of differences in occupational achievement related to social origins, net of education (DESO) and occupational allocation at first job. It also analyses if the change of the DESO over the career is related to the effect of specific job change episodes (voluntary job change, involuntary job change, internal career move). Results based on growth curve models show the relevance of first job in shaping the DESO, which also slightly increases over the career. The DESO is stronger among highly educated individuals, confirming a boosting pattern primarily driven by a better allocation at first job. The (smaller) DESO among the low-educated, increasing over the career, depends from the higher probabilities to benefit from voluntary and internal career job changes for the children of the service class. The (stronger) DESO among the highly educated is driven by the higher probabilities of experiencing internal career mobility for the children of the service class as well as by their ability to benefit also from an involuntary job change (e.g. dismissal).

The Effects of the Dependent Health Insurance Coverage Mandates on Fathers’ Job Mobility and Compensation

Due to the low rates of health insurance coverage among young adults, some state governments began mandating health insurance companies to allow adult children to stay on their parents’ health insurance plans. First implemented in 1995, these mandates aimed to increase insurance coverage among young adults. In 2010, the federal government enacted a more comprehensive version of the dependent coverage mandate as part of the Affordable Care Act. These state- and federal-level efforts increased insurance rates for young adults, but they might have also come with unintended consequences for parents. Parents who placed a high value on health insurance for their young adult children might be reluctant to leave jobs with employer-provided health insurance, and employers might offset the mandate-incurred health care costs by reducing other types of employee benefits or earnings. To assess the extent of such consequences, I study the effects of both the state- and federal-dependent health insurance mandates on fathers’ voluntary job separation rates (job-lock and job-push) and changes in their compensation. I observe a significant decrease in the likelihood of voluntary job separation among eligible working fathers aged 45–64 and find weak evidence that the mandates reduced certain fathers’ total monetary compensation.

The Penalty Effect of Educational Mismatch on Wages: An Empirical Study Based on Micro Panel Data of China

With the expansion of higher education for many years, the difficulty in graduates’ employment and the continuous decrease in the starting salaries have become the typical features of China’s labor market in recent years. Under pressure from all facets, many university graduates have to engage in jobs that do not match their education. The mismatch between education and jobs not only implies the inefficient allocation of resources invested in education, but also imposes penalty effect on labor wages. How is the effect of educational mismatch on wages? How to avoid measurement error and the heterogeneity from unobservable variable ability”? What is the theoretical mechanism of the effect of educational mismatch on wages? Thus, this paper analyzes the effect of educational mismatch on wages on the basis of the models proposed by Duncan & Hoffman（1981）, and Verdugo, R.R & Verdugo, NT（1989）, by using the panel data of China Family Panel Studies（CFPS）from 2010 to 2014. We use a fixed effects model and instrumental variable estimates to address the two econometric problems faced by the empirical literature: omitted variable bias and measurement error. The fixed-effect instrumental variable estimates in this paper confirm that overeducated workers suffer from a wage penalty of 1.4%. Conversely, under-educated employees receive a bonus of 2.4%. Both omitted variable bias and measurement error are inevitable and important factors. The upward bias which is caused by the omission of unobservable variable ability” is offset by the downward bias caused by measurement error to a large extent. In addition, this paper further tests the theoretical mechanism of the effect of education mismatch on employment. we find educational requirement for jobs is the vital determinant of wages for employees aged 40 or above, while it has no significant effect on wages for those under the age of 40. In other words, as employees’ working years are getting longer and longer, their wages gradually depend on their current productivity and skills, rather than the education they have received when they left the education system. Workers who take voluntary job changes are less prone to over-education. Therefore, as their career progresses, the employees constantly seek jobs that match their educational skills, so that the mismatch has been improved. It means that the occupation liquidity hypothesis holds in China. There is a compensation mechanism between education mismatch and human capital. The over-education can compensate for the lack of expression ability, understanding capability, and health at work. The enlightenment contained in the conclusion of this paper is as follows: firstly, the education authorities should reform the education system, so as to provide the skilled graduates needed by the market; secondly, colleges and universities should adjust the subject structure and personnel training structure actively and effectively to meet the needs of the market; what’s more, companies should establish the talent identification and multi-level reward and punishment mechanism so as to identify the over-educated workers and release their labor productivity; finally, the governments should strengthen career guidance and help university graduates to find more matched jobs so as to reduce the time of job seeking and weaken the wage premium problem.

Validation of the Job-Hopping Motives Scale

Job-hopping is the practice of making frequent voluntary job changes. Integrating theory and research from career and organizational turnover research, two distinct motives for job-hopping were proposed. The escape motive describes frequently changing jobs to escape disliked work environments, whereas the advancement motive describes frequently changing jobs as a means of career advancement. A self-report measure of job-hopping motives was developed and validated using responses from 221 students and 1,528 adults. Factor analysis showed that the motives are distinct but moderately related. The escape motive was associated with negative reactivity (impulsivity, negative affect) and script-based turnover decisions. The advancement motive was associated with positive proactivity (persistence, growth need strength), and protean, boundaryless, and kaleidoscope career theory components. Both motives were associated with organizational withdrawal, quick turnover decisions, and increased turnover. Job-hopping motives predicted historic job change rate over and above demographic, career, and organizational turnover variables.

Why Do(n't) they leave?: Motherhood and women's job mobility

Although the relationship between motherhood and women's labor market exits has received a great deal of popular and empirical attention in recent years, far less is known about the relationship between motherhood and women's job changes. In this paper, I use panel data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1979) (NLSY79) and Cox regression models to examine how motherhood influences the types of job changes and employment exits women make and how this varies by racial-ethnic group. I find preschool-age children are largely immobilizing for white women, as they discourage these women from making the types of voluntary job changes that are often associated with wage growth. No such effects were found for Black or Hispanic women.

Can genes play a role in explaining frequent job changes? An examination of gene-environment interaction from human capital theory.

This study examined how a dopamine genetic marker, DRD4 7 Repeat allele, interacted with early life environmental factors (i.e., family socioeconomic status, and neighborhood poverty) to influence job change frequency in adulthood using a national representative sample from the United States. The dopamine gene played a moderating role in the relationship between early life environments and later job change behaviors, which was meditated through educational achievement. In particular, higher family socioeconomic status was associated with higher educational achievement, and thereafter higher frequency of voluntary job changes and lower frequency of involuntary job changes; such relationships were stronger (i.e., more positive or negative) for individuals with more DRD4 7R alleles. In contrast, higher neighborhood poverty was associated with lower educational achievement, and thereafter lower frequency of voluntary job change and higher frequency of involuntary job change; such relationships were again stronger (i.e., more positive or negative) for individuals with more DRD4 7R alleles. The results demonstrated that molecular genetics using DNA information, along with early life environmental factors, can bring new insights to enhance our understanding of job change frequency in individuals' early career development. (PsycINFO Database Record

Consequences of voluntary job changes in Germany: A multilevel analysis for 1985–2013

Analyzing the development of the consequences of voluntary job changes in Germany between 1985 and 2013, the study focuses on income gains and job satisfaction increases. Drawing on arguments of the job-search literature on the one hand and the proliferation of choices on the other we investigate whether the returns of job changes have increased or decreased. Results show that income gains have decreased over time while the job satisfaction surplus has remained stable. We further conclude that in determining the outcomes of job changes over time, structural factors seem to be more important than individual ones.

Asian/Pacific Librarians Career Choices: A Mixed Method Study

This is a mixed method study of Asian/Pacificlibrarians career choices related to leadershippositions. The statistical analyses are based ondata from 91 librarians in survey Q1 distributedto 600+ CALA and APALA members. Thecorrelation, prediction of association, cross-tabbing,and ANOVA tests were applied to the survey.The result shows that the leadership position iscorrelated with number of years worked in thelibrary profession, number of publications,number of voluntary job changes, and nationalprofessional association’s involvement. Therewas a suggested correlation between leadershippositions and additional advanced degrees andover half of librarians with a doctoral degree arein chief librarian positions. The study also nullifiesthe hypothesis that achieving leadership position is less likely for first generation immigrants orimmigrants who did not receive k-12 orundergraduate education in the North America.In addition, the differences in professional,community, and political involvement areexamined among professional librarians,supervising librarians and chief librarians.The comments from the quantitative surveyQ1 contain rich data which can’t be interpretedby existing statistical methods. The Q1 commentsbecame the first section of a follow-up qualitativestudy using situation coding and subjectperspective coding method. A separate qualitativesurvey Q2 was sent to 12 Asian/Pacific chieflibrarians only. Eight chief librarians completedQ2 covering biographical information andin-depth questions on perceptions of leadershipachievement gap among Asian/Pacific Americanlibrarians. Comparison of comments of Q1for professional librarians and Q2 for chieflibrarians suggested many similar themesemerged. The triangulation from differentAsian/Pacific librarian population validatedthe finding.

Does a Voluntary Job Change Affect Work-Family Balance?

The question of work-family balance (WFB) is an area where increasing attention is being paid nowadays since it relates to the health, satisfaction, personal development of employees, to the care for their children, youths and elder family members. The purpose of the paper is to explore the connection between the voluntary job change and the potential improvement of the work-family balance since it was assumed that changing the job voluntarily might bring to a higher WFB as employees could satisfy their needs more effectively in a new working environment, chosen by their own will. Data were collected using a combination of CAWI (computer assisted web interview) and pen and pencil methods. Employees from various companies and public sector organizations from Slovenia were invited to participate in the study. Hierarchical cluster analysis was performed to identify clusters of family-work balancers, i.e. of those, who help with balancing employees’ work and family domains. Kruskal-Wallis test and Mann-Whitney U test were used to explore the correlation between the decision about the voluntary job change and the satisfaction with the work-family balance. The research has shown that the assessment of WFB does not depend on a voluntary job change. The exceptions are the group of employees with children (in a positive direction) and the group of employees without children and no help in the household (in a negative direction). The employees do not use a job change as a tool for increasing WFB. This is probably also due to the closed culture of Slovenians. The managers who do care about their employees and who do not wish to lose their best employees have therefore many possibilities to choose the proper coping strategies to help their employees balance their work and family lives.

Declining long-term employment in Japan

This paper documents the secular decline of average job tenure in Japan based on microdata from two representative government surveys: the household-based Employment Status Survey (ESS) and the establishment-based Basic Survey on Wage Structure (BSWS). Male workers born in 1970 have experienced about 20% fewer years of job tenure than those born in 1944 at a given age, based on an analysis of ESS data. The decline of the long-term employment relationship is uniformly observed across firm sizes and industries. Among job changers, the fraction of voluntary job changes, as well as that of job changes associated with wage increase, has been stable.

Credit Constraints and Job Mobility

We estimate the probability of voluntary job change using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) and imputed values for several different measures of financial stress from the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF). Our main finding is that single men are more likely to respond to credit constraints by voluntarily switching jobs. For married men, the effect depends on the type of financial stress experienced. Our results suggest that the higher rate of job mobility among single men can be attributed to both higher incidence of credit constraints among this group as well as a differential response to these constraints.

OCCUPATIONAL PENSIONS, WAGES, AND JOB MOBILITY IN GERMANY

ABSTRACTPension‐covered workers in Germany are three times less likely to change jobs than workers not covered by an occupational pension scheme. This paper examines the effects of occupational pension coverage and pension portability loss on voluntary job changes using a sample selection model with endogenous switching. The model estimates, derived from western German panel data for 1985–1998, indicate that occupational pension coverage reduces worker mobility by imposing a capital loss on those leaving their job before retirement age. Moreover, pension‐covered workers receive a higher compensation, which discourages mobility. Making pensions portable increases mobility, but from a low initial level.

Estimating Compensating Wage Differentials Using Voluntary Job Changes: Evidence from Germany

The author develops a model predicting that in a labor market that attaches a wage premium to jobs with a disamenity (a compensating wage differential), the premium's upper bound will be defined by the average wage change of voluntary job movers whose consumption of the disamenity rises as a result of their move; its lower bound, by the wage change of those whose consumption of the disamenity falls. These predictions will not hold if, as predicted by a “segmented” labor market model, the labor market attaches a wage penalty to workplace disamenities. Using longitudinal data on job characteristics and wages in Germany in 1984–2001, the author estimates the market returns to four workplace disamenities: heavy workload, job insecurity, poor hours regulation, and a mismatch between skills possessed and skills required. The results broadly support the existence of compensating differentials in the German labor market.

The Role of Firm Pensions for Job Change in Germany

This paper studies the role of occupational pensions for voluntary job mobility in Germany. The analysis is based on individual data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) for the period 1995- 1998. We estimate the effects of pension portability loss on voluntary job changes using a sample selection model with bootstrapping. The main findings are that occupational pension coverage reduces worker mobility by imposing a capital loss on those leaving their job before retirement age. A higher compensation in pension-covered jobs is important too.

The Relationship Between Employee Job Change and Job Satisfaction: The Honeymoon-Hangover Effect.

Recent research suggests that the turnover process is not fully captured by the traditional sequential model relating job dissatisfaction to subsequent turnover. The present study contributes to this research by modeling within-individual job satisfaction as a function of job change patterns to determine if individual work attitudes change systematically with the temporal turnover process. Specifically, the authors hypothesized that low satisfaction would precede a voluntary job change, with an increase in job satisfaction immediately following a job change (the honeymoon effect), followed by a decline in job satisfaction (the hangover effect). Though this pattern is suggested in the literature, no prior research has integrated and tested this complete temporal model within individuals. Findings based on a sample of managers supported the proposed honeymoon-hangover effect.