BACKGROUND:

There are anecdotal reports of high job turnover of Individual Placement and Support employment specialists. However, no studies have addressed this issue.

OBJECTIVE:

To explore whether turnover rates among employment specialists are higher compared to public sector employees along with the correlates of turnover intentions.

METHODS:

A repeated cross-sectional study collected data from 40 employment specialists in Norway using validated scales to measure job perceptions. Turnover intentions were the main outcome.

RESULTS:

Turnover rate of employment specialists (45.0%) was significantly higher than the average turnover rate of other occupations in the public sector (27.1%) in the same geographical regions (x² = 6.5, df = 1, p = 0.01). After adjusting for potential confounders, five factors remained significantly associated with turnover intentions in directions as expected: general job satisfaction (β= –0.33, p < 0.05), satisfaction with current work (β= –0.35, p < 0.05), satisfaction with supervision (β= –0.28, p < 0.05), work meaningfulness (β= –0.42, p < 0.05) and Negative emotionality personality trait (β= 0.58, p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS:

Addressing turnover will positively impact on productivity and job satisfaction of employment specialists along with continuity of employment support for people with mental health conditions.