Why do workers leave geriatric care, and do they come back? A timing of events study

In many industrialized countries, demographic change is accompanied by increasing demand for geriatric care workers, which in turn intensifies the need to retain them or to attract them back after leaving. Although much is known about the intention of workers to leave, little is known about how many of them actually do leave and return to geriatric care at a later stage in a comprehensive framework.

To examine and explain how many workers withdraw from geriatric care, take up other occupations, and return to geriatric care at a later stage in their careers, and the reasons behind this.

This study used administrative daily data that cover all workers in Germany who started working in geriatric care in the period 1996 to 2018 and observed their employment biographies for a maximum of 26 years.

Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and parametric regression survival-time analysis were used to estimate the survival rates and to estimate individual, workplace and regional determinants of leaving and returning to geriatric care.

Workers in geriatric care were more likely to leave the profession than other workers, two thirds withdrew within five years of first taking up work in geriatric care. If they remained in employment, they generally chose an occupation related to geriatric care. Half of the leavers returned to geriatric care again within eight years. Individual and workplace-related factors, such as age and remuneration, are statistically significant predictors of leaving and returning.

The findings emphasize how important it is for organizations to keep in touch with geriatric care workers leaving their job, since a substantial share of them returns again.