Training and the commitment of outsourced information technologies' workers: psychological contract fulfillment as a mediator

Fontinha, R. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2390-098X, Chambel, M. J. and Cuyper, N. D. (2014) Training and the commitment of outsourced information technologies' workers: psychological contract fulfillment as a mediator. Journal of Career Development, 41 (4). pp. 321-340. ISSN 0894-8453 doi: 10.1177/0894845313495587

Abstract/Summary

Outsourced workers in information technologies (IT) generally have high skills and a high value on the job market. Their IT outsourcing organizations are likely to provide them with training, in the first place for skill development, but perhaps also as a way to bind the workers to them. This can be understood along the role of the psychological contract. Outsourced IT workers may see training as a fulfillment of their psychological contract. Accordingly, we hypothesize that psychological contract fulfillment mediates the relationship between training and affective commitment to the IT outsourcer. This was tested in a sample of 158 Portuguese outsourced IT workers. The results showed that employees who considered that they were receiving good training opportunities felt a greater affective commitment to their IT outsourcers. This relationship was mediated by the fulfillment of the relational psychological contract.