Hobo Syndrome: A Cross-Organizational Mobility in Banking, Health and Development Sector

Abstract

Background: .This study examines the past quits
and intentions to search for alternative jobs as
predictor of Hobo Syndrome in Banking, Health and
Development Sector.
Methods: The sample consisted of 228 employees
working in banking (n=76), health (n=76) and
development (n=76) sector. The inclusion criterion
for sample participation was at least 1 year of
working experience in health, banking and
development sectors. The selected organizations
included private banks, hospitals and nongovernmental
organizations.The age of the
employees was ranging between 25 – 50 years. The
intention to search for alternative job was measured.
Question was anchored on a 5-point likert scale
strongly disagree=1 and strongly agree=5. High
scores indicate a strong urge to look for alternative
job. Job Hopping Measure consisting of three items
was used to gauge Hobo Syndrome. The responses
were collected on scale format of 7-point Likert scale
where strongly disagree= 1 to strongly agree= 7. 12For
the analysis number of past quits was measured by
the total number of times an individual had
voluntarily exited a job as reported by the
respondent. And frequency of past quits was also
measured by likert format where never =1 and
often= 4. Frequency of past quits was then used as a
predictor of hobo syndrome. Reliability test was
computed. Frequencies, custom tabulation and
Regression analysis were used for analyses of the
results.
Results: The sector-wise past job quits are
comparatively high in the bracket of 1-3 past job
quits and here, job quitting seems high in health
sector as compared to other sectors.The results also
reveal that random job hopping is more prevalent
than Strategic job hopping . Prevalence of frequent
past job quits is higher in the early years of work
experience as compared to employees with 7-10 years
of experience. Cronbach Alpha for Intention to
search for alternative job and Hobo Syndrome
exhibits a good internal consistency . Intention to
search for alternative job positively predicts Hobo
Syndrome (F =189.59,p<.01). Intention to search for
alternative job has a positive impact on Hobo
Syndrome (=.83, p<.01) . The values of R2 of .48
indicates a 48% variance in the Hobo Syndrome by
the predictor which is frequency of past quits (F
=46.69,p<.01). Thus, frequency of past quitshas a
positive impact on Hobo Syndrome (=.36, p<.01).
Conclusion: The employees who search for new
alternatives for job and display frequent job quits
are more prone to demonstrate hoboness in their
career.Historical analysis and biographical data to
select workers should be employed to hire a
consistent employee and to reduce cost of hiring
frequently.