Past work experience, present opportunities and turnover decisions:The case of Israel's medical sector employees

This paper explores the combined impact of past job histories and present job opportunities on turnover decisions. We predict turnover decisions on the basis of the structural approach, emphasizing previous work experiences (time spent in past job positions) and the organizational approach (focusing on objective and perceived internal and external employment positions opportunities). A crosssectional analysis of employees from four occupational groups in eight medical institutions and a followup sample of 81 “quitters” formed the database for the study. The results suggest that past work history and present employment opportunities produce occupationdependent differences in turnover behavior. It is shown that differences in employees’ perception of opportunities, modified by the occupation's “market viability”, influence turnover. These results demonstrate that integrating the structural and organizational approach, involving both past job histories and present opportunities, improve the prediction of turnover decisions.