Are Employees More Mobilized After Job Mobility?

Abstract

The antecedents of voluntary employee turnover are well studied, but little is known about the consequences or outcomes of this voluntary job mobility. We address this gap through a survey study of 121 banking employees who have changed their employer in the last 3 years. We hypothesized that job change, whether self-initiated or imposed, may improve organizational commitment, work engagement, and well-being. These positive effects are expected when the job change is perceived as professionally and personally beneficial. Regression analyses revealed that employer change that is perceived as successful, whether voluntary or not, predicts an increase in general well-being, work engagement, and, to a lesser extent, affective organizational commitment. These results suggest that employer change may help employees to be more mobilized in their new work. Misconceptions about highly mobile employees and advantages of job change for both employees and organizations are discussed.