Testing for correlates of intent to leave one's job versus intent to leave one's occupation among cancer registrars.

The present investigation involved a field study of cancer registrars (CRs), who collect data used by the National Cancer Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to study trends in cancer incidence and outcomes. Because of the forecasted shortage of CRs due to the aging of the CR workforce, the professional organization of CRs needed to research the factors related to the recruitment and retention of this workforce. From a national database of 3,393 CRs, data regarding intent to leave one's job and occupation, along with occupational commitment, were obtained from a sample of 374 CRs to meet this research need. The focus of this field study was to assess patterns of association between the correlates of "intent to leave" variables, including measures of job satisfaction and occupational commitment. Results showed that satisfaction with job rewards, interpersonal relations, and fringe benefits had a stronger negative relationship to intent to leave one's job compared with intent to leave one's occupation. Affective and normative occupational commitment facets had a stronger negative relationship to intent to leave one's occupation compared with intent to leave one's job. Beyond demographic control and perceptual variables, these attitudinal job satisfaction and occupational commitment variables together explained the greatest amount of variance in both "intent to leave" measures.