Quality of working life and turnover intention in information technology work

Abstract High turnover has been a major issue in information technology (IT) organizations. A conceptual model to explain turnover was developed and tested in two national samples of IT and IT manufacturing work. The model postulates that quality of working life mediates the relations between job/organizational characteristics and turnover intention. The American sample consisted of 624 IT employees of five IT organizations. The Austrian sample consisted of 677 employees from an international IT production company (IT manufacturing work). A similar questionnaire was used in both studies. The model was tested with path analysis. A core model with main pathways between job demands and supervisory support to emotional exhaustion, and between emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction to turnover intention was confirmed in the national samples and in subsamples of demographics and job types. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.