What Roles Do the Perceived Job Alternatives and Economic Situations Play in the Career Anchors of IT Personnel?

Although the study of career anchors has a long history, no researcher, as yet, has conducted a data survey for collecting data from information technology personnel (ITP). This study extends research to investigate the implications of career anchor in terms of career satisfaction and the subsequent turnover intention of ITP, and to collect data from the same groups three times, from 2010 to 2016 (economic recession to economic improvement to economic prosperity), then to validate the hypotheses, and the results showed that the hypothesis was partially supported. The results suggest that different career anchors have different outcomes to career satisfaction at different economic situation, and career satisfaction successfully explains the ITP's turnover intentions. Meanwhile, perceived job alternatives play a key role in shaping career anchors and affecting employees' assessing their career satisfaction and turnover decisions. Thus, this study has revised the research model so that it entails both the theoretical and practical implications for career anchor research.