The Effects of Wages and Training on Intent to Switch or Leave Among Direct Care Workers

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Although most studies have not separated turnover of direct care workers (DCWs) into those who switch to another organization (switchers) and those who leave the industry (leavers), switchers and leavers have different impacts on the facilities they quit and the labor market for DCWs. We distinguished between intent to switch and intent to leave and investigated the impact of wages and training on each turnover intention. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Data were obtained from Japan’s Fact-Finding Survey on Long-term Care Work. We included DCWs (n = 7,311) in the analyses and used multinomial regression by sex and provider type to compare those who wanted to switch and those who wanted to leave with those who wanted to remain in their current workplace. RESULTS: The impacts of an increase in wages and a higher training score were larger for intent to switch than intent to leave. Compared with wages, the impact of training was greater. The impact of job characteristics on turnover intention varied between women and men and across provider types. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: This study provides a better understanding of the difference in the determinants of switching and leaving and simultaneously increases our understanding of the differences between women and men and across provider types.