IT industry labour turnover: The reality

At the time of regaining independence, though the Sri Lankan economy was open to free trade, it was mainly dominated by agriculture. Since the adoption of liberal economic policies in 1977, new industries have been created, and the export structure has become diversified. One of such emerging industries is Information Technology (IT). After the mid-1990s, an expansion in the IT industry has been witnessed with many local and international companies setting up operations to cater to the international market. As IT companies build on knowledge workers, absorbing qualified employees is the focal point. In the competitive IT labour market, companies make substantial investments by adopting various strategies to recruit qualified knowledge workers, creating a high IT labour turnover rate in the industry. This not only influences the performance and stability of the IT industry but also increases the costs of recruitment and selection of knowledge workers. In this context, the arising IT labour turnover issues should be addressed. This paper investigates reasons for IT industry labour turnover and related retention issues. In the study, a survey questionnaire was used, and 158 randomly selected knowledge workers (all graduates) responded. Data was analyzed using SPSS software. The findings gave an insight into the knowledge worker turnover behaviour, in which only 6% satisfied with their current job with the current employer, while 24% intended to leave the current employer if they got a better job offer from another IT company, only in Sri Lanka. Being a lucrative global industry, another 24% intended to leave if they got a job offer or a permanent residency in a foreign country. A detailed analysis of IT industry labour turnover, individual expectations, management issues in the IT industry, and practical implications of the findings are discussed.