Not All Leaving Is Created Equal: Differentiating The Antecedents Of Changing Organizations Versus Switching Occupations

The process of leaving an organization versus an occupation is an important but under-studied approach in turnover research. Drawing from focus-congruence approach and using a sample of 2,382 teachers in rural China, results show that organizational and occupational turnover intentions are distinct constructs and relate differently to antecedents. Specifically, relationships between factors with an organizational focus (i.e., leader support, colleague support, and material support for work) and organizational turnover intentions are significantly stronger than those between these factors and occupational turnover intentions, whereas relationships between factors with an occupational focus (i.e., occupational satisfaction, salary satisfaction, and occupational choice motivations) and occupational turnover intentions are significantly stronger than those between these factors and organizational turnover intentions. Results illuminate the growing teacher shortage in China, emphasize the importance of accurate specification of foci of work attitudes, and show that employee movement varies in a richer fashion than the stay-leave criterion routinely deployed.