TURNOVER AND CAREER PATHS OF COMPUTER SPE CIALISTS

Results of a longitudinal study on predictors of turnover in a sample of 592 computer specialists are presented. Using path-analysis, overal l job satisfaction, satisfaction with ''leadership climate'', satisfac tion with job content, organizational commitment, and normative belief s turn out to be the most important predictors of intention to quit an d, via intention, of turnover itself. The components of the present mo del account for 70% of the variance of intention to quit and for 28% o f the variance of turnover behavior. The differentiation of six career patterns and their relationships to opinions about work demonstrates the attempt to overcome the dominating dichotomy of ''stayers'' and '' leaves'' in traditional turnover research.