Where Are You Going? A Comparative Analysis of Job and Career Change Intentions among USA IT Workers

Unhappy IT workers will eventually leave their company. Some employees seek new positions with different firms. Others will choose to leave the IT field altogether. These mutually exclusive options have different outcomes for IT workers, organizations, and the computing professions. This research investigates the causes and consequences of each. A content analysis is first performed in order to identify possible determinants. Next, a canonical correlation analysis is conducted to determine which constructs load with job change intention and which associate with career change intentions among IT workers in the United States. The analysis was conducted using data from a survey of IT professionals. The results indicate that quantitative demands, cognitive demands, work pace, stress, work family conflict, and predictability lead to job change intention, while meaning of work, job satisfaction, recognition, role conflicts, role clarity, job insecurity, burnout, and perceived supervisor support lead IT workers to consider changing careers. Implications for theory and practice are provided.