Employee Turnover Intentions: Implications from a National Sample

Most empirical studies testing models of turnover intentions have relied on samples of specific organizations or occupational groups, raising reservations as to the generalizability of their results for broader and more comprehensive populations. To begin to fill this gap, a nearly national sample of employed urban males was utilized and sub-populations were examined in terms of their turnover intentions. A set of biodemographic, organizational, perceptional and job satisfaction variables were incorporated into a multivariate analysis to determine factors best explaining turnover intent. At a second stage, the overall measure of job satisfaction was substituted by four component factors: intrinsic, extrinsic, hygienic and social, which were obtained by a factor analysis of thirteen job satisfaction items. The results of the bivariate and multivariate analysis strongly suggest that specific case findings are congruent with this study's national level of turnover intent. Older age, longer periods of service, lower occupational level were found to have a negative and significant relationship to a worker's intention to change an employer. Intrinsic and hygienic job satisfaction components were found to lead towards a lower intention to leave.