Public Servants’ Voluntary Withdrawal Intention in the Careers of Federal Direct Public Administration in Brazil

Abstract

Objective: Voluntary withdrawal intention (VWI) is the idealized process of leaving an organization. VWI can lead to a loss of institutional memory, higher costs for personnel replacement, and an overload on remaining staff. Drawing on unfolding and embeddedness theories, this study identifies a new mechanism linking negative shocks to turnover intention. Methods: The study supports the idea that organizational cynicism and professional achievement mediate the relationship between VWI and organizational change. Structural equation modeling was used with data from 378 federal public servants in Brazil. Results: The results indicate that organizational cynicism and professional achievement play a role in this relationship. The model explains 70.70% of the variance in VWI. Conclusions: These findings have implications for research on employee turnover intentions and people management, improving our understanding of predictors and relationships. The study also explores both theoretical and practical implications, which are particularly important due to the limited research in the Brazilian federal public sector.

Keywords

• career expectation
• organizational change
• organizational cynicism
• voluntary withdrawal intention