article

Career Abandonment Intentions among Software Workers

Authors:

Ricardo Colomo-Palacios,

Cristina Casado-Lumbreras,

Pedro Soto-AcostaAuthors Info & Claims

Human Factors in Ergonomics & Manufacturing, Volume 24, Issue 6

Pages 641 - 655

https://doi.org/10.1002/hfm.20509

Published: 01 November 2014 Publication History

Abstract

Within the software development industry, human resources have been recognized as one of the most decisive and scarce resources. Today, the retention of skilled IT information technology personnel is a major issue for employers and recruiters as well, since IT career abandonment is a common practice and means not only the loss of personnel, knowledge, and skills, but also the loss of business opportunities. This article seeks to discover the main motivations young practitioners abandon the software career. To achieve this objective, two studies were conducted. The first study was qualitative performed through semistructured interviews and intended to discover the main variables affecting software career abandonment. The second study was quantitative, consisting of a Web-based survey developed from the output of the first study and administered to a sample of 148 IT practitioners. Results show that work-related, psychological, and emotional variable are the most relevant group of variables explaining IT career abandonment. More specifically, the three most important variables that motivate employees to abandon the career are effort-reward imbalance, perceived workload, and emotional exhaustion. In contrast, variables such as politics and infighting, uncool work, and insufficient resources influence to a lesser extent the decision to leave the career. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

References

[1]

Acharya, P., &Mahanty, B. 2008. Manpower shortage crisis in Indian information technology industry. International Journal of Technology Management, Volume 38 Issue 3, pp.235-247.

[2]

Agarwal, R., &Ferratt, T. W. 2002. Enduring practices for managing IT professionals. Communications of the ACM, Volume 45 Issue 9, pp.73-79.

[3]

Ahuja, M. K., Chudoba, K. M., Kacmar, C. J., McKnight, D. H., &George, J. F. 2007. ICT road warriors: Balancing work-family conflict, job autonomy, and work overload to mitigate turnover intentions. Management Information Systems Quarterly, Volume 31 Issue 1, pp.1-17.

[4]

Allen, M. W., Armstrong, D. J., Reid, M. F., &Riemenschneider, C. K. 2008. Factors impacting the perceived organizational support of IT employees. Information & Management, Volume 45 Issue 8, pp.556-563.

Digital Library

[5]

Avison, D. E., Cuthbertson, C. H., &Powell, P. 1999. The paradox of information systems: Strategic value and low status. Journal of Strategic Information Systems, Volume 8 Issue 4, pp.419-445.

[6]

Bharadwaj, A. S. 2000. A resource-based perspective on information technology capability and firm performance: An empirical investigation. MIS Quarterly, Volume 24 Issue 1, pp.169-196.

Digital Library

[7]

Blau, G. J. 1985. The measurement and prediction of career commitment. Journal of Occupational Psychology, Volume 58 Issue 4, pp.277-288.

[8]

Bradley, G. 2007. Job tenure as a moderator of stressor-strain relations: A comparison of experienced and new-start teachers. Work & Stress, Volume 21 Issue 1, pp.48-64.

[9]

Cappelli, P. 2001. Why is it so hard to find information technology workers ? Organizational Dynamics, Volume 30 Issue 2, pp.87-99.

[10]

Carayon, P., Schoepke, J., Hoonakker, P. L. T., Haims, M. C., &Brunette, M. 2006. Evaluating causes and consequences of turnover intention among IT workers: The development of a questionnaire survey. Behaviour & Information Technology, Volume 25 Issue 5, pp.381-397.

[11]

Casado-Lumbreras, C., Colomo-Palacios, R., Soto-Acosta, P., &Misra, S. 2011. Culture dimensions in software development industry: The effects of mentoring. Scientific Research and Essays, Volume 6 Issue 11, pp.2403-2412.

[12]

Chang, C. L. H. 2009. Ethical value of IT professionals in Chinese cultural societies. Journal of Information Ethics, Volume 18 Issue 1, pp.25-53.

[13]

Chang, C. L. H. 2010. The study of the turnover of MIS professionals: The gap between Taiwanese and US societies. International Journal of Information Management, Volume 30 Issue 4, pp.301-314.

[14]

Chou, D. C., &Chou, A. Y. 2011. Innovation outsourcing: Risks and quality issues. Computer Standards & Interfaces, Volume 33 Issue 3, pp.350-356.

[15]

Churchill, G. A. 1979. A paradigm for developing better measures of marketing constructs. Journal of Marketing Research, Volume 16 Issue 1, pp.64-73.

[16]

Cohen, J. 1960. A coefficient of agreement for nominal scales. Educational and Psychological Measurement, Volume 20, pp.37-46.

[17]

Cohen, J. 1968. Weighted kappa: Nominal scale agreement with provision for scaled disagreement or partial credit. Psychological Bulletin, Volume 70, pp.213-220.

[18]

Colomo-Palacios, R., Fernandes, E., Soto-Acosta, P., &Sabbagh, M. 2011. Software product evolution for intellectual capital management: The case of Meta4 PeopleNet. International Journal of Information Management, Volume 31 Issue 4, pp.395-399.

Digital Library

[19]

Colomo Palacios, R., Tovar Caro, E., García Crespo, A., &Gómez Berbís, J. M. 2010. Identifying technical competences of IT professionals: The case of software engineers. International Journal of Human Capital and Information Technology Professionals, Volume 1 Issue 1, pp.31-43.

Digital Library

[20]

Day, J. 2007. Strangers on the train: The relationship of the IT department with the rest of the business. Information Technology & People, Volume 20 Issue 1, pp.6-31.

[21]

DeMarco, T., &Lister, T. 1987. Peopleware: Productive projects and teams. New York: Dorset House.

Digital Library

[22]

Drucker, P. 1993. Post-capitalist society. New York: Harper Business.

[23]

Engler, N. 1998. IS managers under stress. Computing, Volume 12, pp.44-48.

[24]

Ford, G., &Gibbs, N. 1996. A mature profession of software engineering No. CMU/SEI-96-TR-04. Software Engineering Institute, Pittsburgh, PA.

[25]

Fu, J. R. 2011. Understanding career commitment of IT professionals: Perspectives of push-pull-mooring framework and investment model. International Journal of Information Management, Volume 31 Issue 3, pp.279-293.

[26]

García Crespo, A., Colomo Palacios, R., Gómez Berbís, J. M., &Tovar Caro, E. 2008. The IT crowd: Are we stereotypes ? IEEE IT Professional, Volume 10 Issue 6, pp.24-28.

Digital Library

[27]

García Crespo, A., Colomo Palacios, R., Gómez Berbís, J. M., &Tovar Caro, E. 2009. IT professionals' competences: High school students' views. Journal of Information Technology Education, Volume 8 Issue 1, pp.45-57.

[28]

Ghapanchi, A. H., &Aurum, A. 2011. Antecedents to IT personnel's intentions to leave: A systematic literature review. Journal of Systems and Software, Volume 84 Issue 2011, pp.238-249.

Digital Library

[29]

Grzywacz, J. G., &Marks, N. F. 2000. Reconceptualizing the workfamily interface: An ecological perspective on the correlates of positive and negative spillover between work and family. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Volume 5 Issue 1, pp.111-126.

[30]

Hair, J. F., Anderson, R. E., Tatham, R. L., &Black, W C. 1998. Multivariate data analysis with readings. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

[31]

Hazzan, O., &Hadar, I. 2008. Why and how can human-related measures support software development processes. Journal of Systems and Software, Volume 81 Issue 7, pp.1248-1252.

Digital Library

[32]

Hirschheim, R., &Newman, M. 2010. Houston, we've had a problem' offshoring, IS employment and the IS discipline: Perception is not reality. Journal of Information Technology, Volume 25 Issue 4, pp.358-372.

[33]

Hsu, M. K., Jiang, J. J., Klein, G., &Tang, Z. 2003. Perceived career incentives and intent to leave. Information & Management, Volume 40 Issue 5, pp.361-369.

[34]

Joseph, D., Ang, S., &Slaughter, S. 2005. Identifying the prototypical career paths of IT professionals: A sequence and cluster analysis. In Proceedings of the 2005 ACM SIGMIS CPR Conference on Computer Personnel Research pp. 94-96. New York: ACM.

[35]

Joseph, D., Ng, K., Koh, C., &Ang, S. 2007. Turnover of information technology professionals: A narrative review, meta-analytic structural equation modeling, and model development. Management Information Systems Quarterly, Volume 31 Issue 3, pp.547-577.

Digital Library

[36]

Kaiser, H. F. 1974. An index of factorial simplicity. Psychometrika, Volume 39, pp.31-36.

[37]

King, R. C., &Sethi, V. 1997. The moderating effect of organizational commitment on burnout in information systems professionals. European Journal of Information Systems, Volume 6 Issue 2, pp.86-96.

[38]

Korunka, C., Hoonakker, P., &Carayon, P. 2008. Quality of working life and turnover intention in information technology work. Human Factors and Ergonomics in Manufacturing & Service Industries, Volume 18 Issue 4, pp.409-423.

[39]

Kouvonen, A., Kivimäki, M., Elovainío, M., Virtanen, M., Linna, A., &Vahtera, J. 2005. Job strain and leisure-time physical activity in female and male public sector employees. Preventive Medicine, Volume 41 Issue 2, pp.532-539.

[40]

Kuean, W. L., Kaur, S., &Wong, E. S. K. 2010. The relationship between organizational commitment and intention to quit: The Malaysian companies perspective. Journal of Applied Sciences, Volume 10 Issue 19, pp.2251-2260.

[41]

Lee, Y., &Lee, S. J. 2006. The competitiveness of the information systems major: An analytic hierarchy process. Journal of Information Systems Education, Volume 17 Issue 2, pp.211-222.

[42]

López-Fernández, M., Martín-Alcázar, F., &Romero-Fernández, P. M. 2010. Human resource management on social capital. International Journal of Human Capital and Information Technology Professionals, Volume 1 Issue 2, pp.36-48.

Digital Library

[43]

Love, P. E. D., &Irani, Z. 2007. Coping and psychological adjustment among information technology personnel. Industrial Management & Data Systems, Volume 107 Issue 6, pp.824-844.

[44]

Love, P. E. D., Irani, Z., Standing, C., &Themistocleous, M. 2007. Influence of job demands, job control and social support on information systems professionals' psychological well-being. International Journal of Manpower, Volume 28 Issue 6, pp.513-528.

[45]

McConnell, S. 2003. Professional software development. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

[46]

Michaels, E., Handfield-Jones, H., &Axelrod, B. 2001. The war for talent. Boston: Harvard Business Press.

[47]

Mithas, S., &Krishnan, M. S. 2008. Human capital and institutional effects in the compensation of information technology professionals in the United States. Management Science, Volume 54 Issue 3, pp.415-428.

[48]

Moore, J. E. 2000. One road to turnover: An examination of work exhaustion in technology professionals. Management Information Systems Quarterly, Volume 24 Issue 1, pp.141-168.

Digital Library

[49]

Moore, J. E., &Burke, L. A. 2002. How to turn around "turnover culture" in IT. Communications of the ACM, Volume 45 Issue 2, pp.73-78.

[50]

Morello, D., Kyte, A., &Gomolski, B. 2007. The quest for talent: You ain't seen nothing yet. Gartner, Inc. Retrieved July 4, 2011, from "http://www.gartner.com/DisplayDocument?ref=g_search&id=569115&subref=advsearch"

[51]

Nunnally, J. C. 1978. Psychometric theory 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.

[52]

Palacio, R. R., Vizcaíno, A., Morán, A. L., &González, V. M. 2011. Tool to facilitate appropriate interaction in global software development. IET Software, Volume 5 Issue 2, pp.157-171.

[53]

Paré, G., &Tremblay, M. 2007. The influence of high-involvement human resources practices, procedural justice, organizational commitment, and citizenship behaviors on information technology professionals' turnover intentions. Group Organization Management, Volume 32 Issue 3, pp.326-357.

[54]

Pressman, R. S. 2005. Software engineering: A practitioner approach. New York: McGraw-Hill.

[55]

Quan, J., &Cha, H. 2010. IT certifications, outsourcing and information systems personnel turnover. Information Technology & People, Volume 24 Issue 4, pp.330-351.

[56]

Rutner, P. S., Hardgrave, B. C., &McKnight, D. H. 2008. Emotional dissonance and the information technology professional. Management Information Systems Quarterly, Volume 32 Issue 2, pp.635-652.

[57]

Ryan, S., &O'Connor, R. V. 2009. Development of a team measure for tacit knowledge in software development teams. Journal of Systems and Software, Volume 82 Issue 2, pp.229-240.

Digital Library

[58]

Saiedian, H., Bagert, D. J., &Mead, N. R. 2000. Software engineering programs: Dispelling the myths and misconceptions. IEEE Software, Volume 19 Issue 5 pp.35-41.

Digital Library

[59]

Sethi, V., King, R. C., &Quick, J. C. 2004. What causes stress in information system professionals ? Communications of the ACM, Volume 47 Issue 3, pp.99-102.

[60]

Siegrist, J. 1996. Adverse health effects of high-effort/low-reward conditions. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Volume 1 Issue 1, pp.27-41.

[61]

Siegrist, J., Starke, D., Chandola, T., Godin, I., Marmot, M., Niedhammer, I.,et al. 2004. The measurement of effort-reward imbalance at work: European comparisons. Social Science & Medicine, Volume 58 Issue 8, pp.1483-1499.

[62]

Soto-Acosta, P., Martínez-Conesa, I., &Colomo-Palacios, R. 2010. An empirical analysis of the relationship between IT training sources and IT value. Information Systems Management, Volume 27 Issue 3, pp.274-283.

Digital Library

[63]

Takaki, J., Nakao, M., Karita, K., Nishikitani, M., &Yano, E. 2006. Relationships between effort-reward imbalance, over-commitment, and fatigue in Japanese information-technology workers. Journal of Occupational Health, Volume 48 Issue 1, pp.62-64.

[64]

Tallon, P., Kraemer, K., &Gurbaxani, V. 2000. Executives' perceptions of the business value of information technology: a process-oriented approach. Journal of Management Information Systems, Volume 16 Issue 4, pp.137-165.

Digital Library

[65]

Wade, M., &Hulland, J. 2004. The resource based view and information systems research: Review, extension, and suggestions for future research. MIS Quarterly, Volume 28 Issue 1, pp.107-142.

[66]

Westlund, S. 2011. Leading techies: Assessing project leadership styles most significantly related to software developer job satisfaction. International Journal of Human Capital and Information Technology Professionals, Volume 2 Issue 2, pp.1-15.

Digital Library

[67]

Yeh, C. H., Lee, G. G., &Pai, J. C. 2011. Influence of CIO's knowledge-sharing behavior on the quality of the IS/IT strategic planning ISSP process in Taiwan. African Journal of Business Management, Volume 5 Issue 6, pp.2465-2474.

[68]

Zmud, R. W. 1984. An examination of "push-pull" theory applied to process innovation in knowledge work. Management Science, Volume 30 Issue 6, pp.727-738.

Digital Library

Cited By

Oliveira RMassoni TAraújo NSarmento CSantos F(2021)Ants Doing LegworkProceedings of the XXXV Brazilian Symposium on Software Engineering10.1145/3474624.3474644(353-362)Online publication date: 27-Sep-2021
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3474624.3474644
Colomo-Palacios RCasado-Lumbreras C(2019)National cultures and gender balance in ICTProceedings of the 13th European Conference on Software Architecture - Volume 210.1145/3344948.3344965(76-81)Online publication date: 9-Sep-2019
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3344948.3344965
Colomo-Palacios RSamuelsen TCasado-Lumbreras C(2019)Emotions in software practiceProceedings of the 4th International Workshop on Emotion Awareness in Software Engineering10.1109/SEmotion.2019.00012(23-28)Online publication date: 28-May-2019
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1109/SEmotion.2019.00012
Show More Cited By

Recommendations

Understanding career commitment of IT professionals: Perspectives of push-pull-mooring framework and investment model

Using push-pull-mooring framework and investment model as theoretical lenses, this study provides a compelling theoretical model that helps understand the important antecedents of career commitment of IT professionals. Especially, we examined the ...
Second thoughts about a career in IT?
CITC5 '04: Proceedings of the 5th conference on Information technology education

At a time of numerous reports of American IT jobs being outsourced overseas, and the immediate employment prospects for many IT graduates uncertain, it remains unclear whether these developments are causing American IT students to reconsider their ...
Work alienation among IT workers: a cross-cultural gender comparison
SIGMIS CPR '08: Proceedings of the 2008 ACM SIGMIS CPR conference on Computer personnel doctoral consortium and research

Information Technology (IT) has experienced a worrisome decline in female participation over two decades, much of which can be attributed to fewer women choosing IT careers. However, women IT professionals also demonstrate mid-career turnover for ...

Comments

Information & Contributors

Information

Published In

cover image Human Factors in Ergonomics & Manufacturing

Human Factors in Ergonomics & Manufacturing Volume 24, Issue 6

November 2014

169 pages

ISSN:1090-8471

EISSN:1520-6564

Issue’s Table of Contents

Publisher

John Wiley and Sons Ltd.

United Kingdom

Publication History

Published: 01 November 2014

Author Tags

Qualifiers

Article

Contributors

Other Metrics

View Article Metrics

Bibliometrics & Citations

Bibliometrics

Article Metrics

17
Total Citations
View Citations
0
Total Downloads

Downloads (Last 12 months)0
Downloads (Last 6 weeks)0

Reflects downloads up to 09 Nov 2024

Other Metrics

View Author Metrics

Citations

Cited By

Oliveira RMassoni TAraújo NSarmento CSantos F(2021)Ants Doing LegworkProceedings of the XXXV Brazilian Symposium on Software Engineering10.1145/3474624.3474644(353-362)Online publication date: 27-Sep-2021
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3474624.3474644
Colomo-Palacios RCasado-Lumbreras C(2019)National cultures and gender balance in ICTProceedings of the 13th European Conference on Software Architecture - Volume 210.1145/3344948.3344965(76-81)Online publication date: 9-Sep-2019
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3344948.3344965
Colomo-Palacios RSamuelsen TCasado-Lumbreras C(2019)Emotions in software practiceProceedings of the 4th International Workshop on Emotion Awareness in Software Engineering10.1109/SEmotion.2019.00012(23-28)Online publication date: 28-May-2019
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1109/SEmotion.2019.00012
Stantchev VRadant O(2018)Metrics for the Management of IT PersonnelInternational Journal of Human Capital and Information Technology Professionals10.5555/3213102.32131059:2(32-51)Online publication date: 1-Apr-2018
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.5555/3213102.3213105
Sinha V(2018)Role of Emotional Intelligence in Managing Interpersonal Relations at Workplace in the IT SectorInternational Journal of Human Capital and Information Technology Professionals10.4018/IJHCITP.20181001059:4(72-87)Online publication date: 1-Oct-2018
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.4018/IJHCITP.2018100105
Bhattacharya SBhattacharya SMohapatra S(2018)Enablers for Advancement of Women into Leadership PositionInternational Journal of Human Capital and Information Technology Professionals10.4018/IJHCITP.20181001019:4(1-22)Online publication date: 1-Oct-2018
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.4018/IJHCITP.2018100101
Misra RKhurana K(2018)Analysis of Employability Skill Gap in Information Technology ProfessionalsInternational Journal of Human Capital and Information Technology Professionals10.4018/IJHCITP.20180701049:3(53-69)Online publication date: 1-Jul-2018
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.4018/IJHCITP.2018070104
McCloskey D(2018)An Examination of the Boundary Between Work and Home for Knowledge WorkersInternational Journal of Human Capital and Information Technology Professionals10.4018/IJHCITP.20180701029:3(25-41)Online publication date: 1-Jul-2018
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.4018/IJHCITP.2018070102
Samuelsen TColomo-Palacios RDanielsen O(2018)Improving presentation skills in the context of software project management teachingProceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality10.1145/3284179.3284194(66-70)Online publication date: 24-Oct-2018
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3284179.3284194
Naim MLenka U(2017)Investigating the Impact of Social Media on Gen Y Employees' EngagementInternational Journal of Human Capital and Information Technology Professionals10.4018/IJHCITP.20170701038:3(29-48)Online publication date: 1-Jul-2017
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.4018/IJHCITP.2017070103
Show More Cited By

View Options

View options

Get Access

Login options

Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution to get full access on this article.

Full Access

Get this Publication

Media

Figures

Other

Tables

View Issue’s Table of Contents