Understanding Voluntary Turnover: Path-Specific Job Satisfaction Effects and The Importance of Unsolicited Job Offers

Abstract

In response to traditional approaches' limited success in explaining voluntary turnover, we explored a paradigmatic shift in turnover research. Using a large national sample, we found we could more successfully model voluntary turnover by recognizing that job (dis)satisfaction and ease of movement importance depend on the group of leavers being studied. For example, ongoing job satisfaction had smaller effects for turnover driven by certain shocks (unsolicited job offers and family-related reasons), which accounted for 40 percent of all quits. Moreover, the prevalence of unsolicited job offers may necessitate rethinking the role of ease of movement in turnover decisions.