Job mobility as predictor of health and burnout

A few earlier studies have shown that employee's turnover intentions and job mobility simultaneously could affect health and burnout. The present study investigated the cross‐sectional, 2‐year longitudinal and possible interactional or additive effects of turnover intentions and job mobility (internal and external mobility) on health (SF‐36) and burnout (CBI). The study used questionnaire data from 662 Swedish civil servants, 73% remained at the same workplace, 13% were internally mobile, and 14% left the organization (externally mobile) during the 2‐year follow‐up period. The results showed that high turnover intentions were cross‐sectionally associated with worse mental health (MH) and higher degree of burnout. The externally mobile group had, after the change of workplace, less degree of personal and work‐related burnout compared to the non‐mobile group. The effect of internal mobility on burnout and health was negligible compared to the effects of external mobility. The results also indicated that the relationship between turnover intentions and actual job mobility are additive rather than interactive. One practical implication of the present findings is that external mobility, if it is in concordance with the individual intentions, could be a powerful health promoting factor.