Title: What affects voluntary employee turnover in building organisations?: Empirical studies in Australia, Mainland China and Taiwan

Authors: Vivian W.Y. Tam; S.X. Zeng; Peter S.P. Wong

Addresses: School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia ' Antai School of Management, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai 200052, China ' School of Property Construction and Project Management, RMIT University, GPO Box 2476, Melbourne VIC 3001, Australia

Abstract: This paper reports a study that investigates the causes of voluntary employee turnover in construction organisations. Questionnaire surveys and semi-structured interviews were conducted. The results indicate that respondents from different countries, genders and age groups may emphasise on different factors that lead them to quit a job and delineate what is an 'ideal job'. In particular, respondents from the developed countries such as Australia shape an 'ideal job' as one that can facilitate a better quality of life. Respondents from the developing countries such as China, as well as the younger age group of respondents, prefer jobs with a decent salary and regular working hours. It is no easy task to understand what caused the employees leave because employees may not feel comfortable to share real reasons behind their resignations. Recommendations to reduce employee turnover in the construction projects are also discussed in this study.

Keywords: employee turnover; building projects; Australia; China; Taiwan; construction industry; ideal jobs; salary; working hours; employee resignation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPOM.2016.076391

International Journal of Project Organisation and Management, 2016 Vol.8 No.2, pp.127 - 150

Received: 21 Feb 2013
Accepted: 06 Feb 2014
Published online: 06 May 2016 *

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