The training paradox of IT professionals who leaves, who stays?

Rapid technological change requires companies to invest heavily in the training of their IT staff, which has different effects on career mobility. Whereas training can bind employees to their organization and thus lowers risk for turnover, it can also increase employees' market value resulting in higher turnover. With this paper, we propose a theoretical model to examine the training paradox of IT professionals. We argue that the effects of training on turnover depend on the type of knowledge acquired and on the employees' commitment. We propose that training, which fosters non-portable knowledge, reduces turnover, and training, which fosters portable knowledge, increases turnover. Furthermore, we argue that organizational commitment mitigates the negative effects of portable training on turnover, while professional commitment magnifies them. By applying commitment theory in the training context, we provide a better understanding of the interactions of commitment, as well as of the training paradox of IT professionals.