Reactions to job transfer by job type and career stage

In American industry, job transfer has been a common technique for staffing organizations and cross-training employees. Increasingly, employees have become reluctant to accept job transfers because of the potential for disruptions to their personal and family lives. In response, applied researchers have attempted to identify reliable employee reactions to job transfers. Empirical results have been inconsistent, however. These inconsistencies may be due, in part, to differences in the measurement of transfer and job types studied, and to a general atheoretical orientation. In this study, these two methodological problems were resolved empirically. Although a formal theory was not proposed, the concept of career stage showed promise as a new research direction. Implications are discussed.We thank Marilyn Gist, Terry Mitchell and Craig Pinder for comments on earlier drafts. Partial support for this study was provided by the National Park Service, Cooperative Park Studies Unit, University of Washington.