Facteurs d'insatisfaction incitant au départ et intention de quitter le travail : analyse comparative des groupes d'âge.

The aim of this paper is to identify reasons why workers would resign from their jobs early and to what extent the reasons for retirement are really encountered. A number of non satisfaction factors either personal or job-related were considered in an age comparison dimension. A questionnaire has been elaborated for the purpose of this study and includes items related to job intention to quit and (potential vs encountered) non satisfaction factors. These factors consider both personal leaving factors and job related leaving factors. The latter include three theoretical sub-dimensions: working conditions, organizational and structural changes and job recognition. Exploratory factor analysis of the 58 items produced eight usable leaving factors: (1) lack of resources and autonomy; (2) work pressure; (3) lack of personal development; (4) job insecurity; (5) personal reasons; (6) organizational changes; (7) a hostile work environment and (8) a poor image of the company. The sample includes 1772 workers from 11 Belgian companies. The response rate is 50.23 per cent. All sectors of activity are included in the survey. We consider five categories of age (under 25 years old, between 25 and 35,
between 36 and 45, between 45 and 55, and over 55 years). As far as the results are concerned, first of all, organizational changes encountered by a large majority of workers appear to be an important leaving factor, especially for older workers. Second the lack of personal development, though experienced by the oldest workers in a larger extent, is the main reason for leaving in all age groups. Third personal factors are also important for the younger and the oldest workers. Moreover work pressure is a phenomenon encountered by all workers, particularly the youngest, but it is less of a reason for leaving. Another result is that job insecurity factor is experienced by youngest workers. Finally, the differences between the young and the not so young are not very clear-cut, supporting the idea of the age management perspective.