{"title":"Factors Associated with Israeli Social Workers' Intention to Stay in the Profession.","authors":"Naama Nebenzahl-Elitzur, Maya Kagan, Ester Zychlinski","doi":"10.1093/sw/swae003","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The phenomenon of social workers leaving the profession occurs frequently, underscoring the importance of understanding factors contributing to the intention to stay (ITS) in the profession. Based on the job demands-resources theory (JD-R), this study examined selected social worker workplace \"demands\" (i.e., their organizational sector of employment and level of work-family conflict) and \"resources\" (i.e., levels of meaning, locus of control, and salary satisfaction at work). Online survey data were obtained from 407 Israeli social workers. The findings showed that higher levels of meaning and salary satisfaction at work, greater professional seniority, and lower levels of work-family conflict were associated with greater ITS in the profession. Data were gathered during the COVID-19 pandemic, enabling examination of variables contributing to the ITS during times of crisis. These findings confirm that meaning at work is the main factor that motivates social worker ITS in the profession. Salary satisfaction was also found to be an essential factor, highlighting the recent escalation in social worker demands for fair compensation in Israel. Greater work-family balance also contributed to ITS. These findings should be considered by governmental decision makers and welfare service providers wishing to preserve this essential workforce, not just in Israel but also in other countries.</p>","PeriodicalId":21875,"journal":{"name":"Social work","volume":" ","pages":"125-132"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3000,"publicationDate":"2024-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Social work","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/swae003","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"SOCIAL WORK","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The phenomenon of social workers leaving the profession occurs frequently, underscoring the importance of understanding factors contributing to the intention to stay (ITS) in the profession. Based on the job demands-resources theory (JD-R), this study examined selected social worker workplace "demands" (i.e., their organizational sector of employment and level of work-family conflict) and "resources" (i.e., levels of meaning, locus of control, and salary satisfaction at work). Online survey data were obtained from 407 Israeli social workers. The findings showed that higher levels of meaning and salary satisfaction at work, greater professional seniority, and lower levels of work-family conflict were associated with greater ITS in the profession. Data were gathered during the COVID-19 pandemic, enabling examination of variables contributing to the ITS during times of crisis. These findings confirm that meaning at work is the main factor that motivates social worker ITS in the profession. Salary satisfaction was also found to be an essential factor, highlighting the recent escalation in social worker demands for fair compensation in Israel. Greater work-family balance also contributed to ITS. These findings should be considered by governmental decision makers and welfare service providers wishing to preserve this essential workforce, not just in Israel but also in other countries.
社工离职的现象时有发生,这凸显了了解导致社工留职意愿(ITS)的因素的重要性。本研究以工作需求-资源理论(JD-R)为基础,对选定的社工工作场所 "需求"(即其就业的组织部门和工作-家庭冲突程度)和 "资源"(即工作意义、控制感和薪酬满意度)进行了研究。在线调查数据来自 407 名以色列社会工作者。调查结果显示,较高的工作意义和薪酬满意度、较高的专业资历和较低的工作家庭冲突水平与较高的职业 ITS 有关。数据是在 COVID-19 大流行期间收集的,因此可以对危机时期导致 ITS 的变量进行研究。这些研究结果证实,工作意义是激励社工在职业中进行 ITS 的主要因素。薪酬满意度也是一个重要因素,这凸显了最近以色列社会工作者对公平报酬要求的升级。提高工作与家庭的平衡也是促进 ITS 的因素之一。不仅在以色列,而且在其他国家,政府决策者和福利服务提供者都应考虑这些研究结果,以保留这支重要的工作队伍。