Psychological contract in the information technology profession.

Abstract

Events such as the dot-com bust, economic instability, and organizational streamlining, present challenges to retaining and hiring information technology (IT) professionals. During the last decade, IT professionals were dismissed in large numbers from their organization because technology is often considered a cost center. As the technology field continues to recover, organizations are struggling to retain their remaining IT staff. Those previously dismissed from their organizations approached rehire situations cautiously for fear they would be dismissed again. Current practitioner and academic research continue to investigate methods of recruiting new and retaining IT workers by using incentives and promises. However, prolonged demanding situations can potentially influence IT turnover intention. In this positivistic study, 104 IT professionals identified the conditions that influenced turnover intention through psychological contract breach and psychological contract violation. The results suggest that perceived work exhaustion, salary, job promotion, opportunities and perceived job autonomy influenced psychological contract breach. Psychological contract breach was found to influence psychological contract violation, which also influenced turnover intention. Psychological contract breach was found to mediate the relationship between job autonomy, emotional dissonance, and perceived work exhaustion to psychological contract violation.