Factors Affecting Retention Intention of Senior Software Engineers in Selected Software Development Firms in Western Province, Sri Lanka

Abstract

One of the main challenges encountered by knowledge-intensive firms such as software development companies that employ a large percentage of highly qualified professionals is high employee turnover. More particularly, in the Asian context, especially in Sri Lanka, employee turnover in the IT industry has been observed as a critical problem. This study attempts to determine how selected employee retention factors promote the retention of Senior Back-End Software Engineers within software development companies in the Western Province of Sri Lanka. The study’s primary source of input was a self-administered questionnaire and semistructured interviews, and the researcher was able to compile responses from a total of 253 Senior Back End Software Engineers and conduct semi-structured interviews with 02 Human Resource professionals of reputed software development companies in the Western Province of Sri Lanka. A thorough statistical analysis was carried out by the researcher using the SPSS program. Descriptive statistics, correlation, and multiple regression analysis were carried out after determining the scale's validity and reliability. In order to assess the association between the identified Independent variables and the turnover the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient was performed. Also, a thematic analysis was performed with the intention of organizing the collected data into themes and generating conclusions. The results of the findings of the study will definitely have an impact on every software development company operating in the Western Province of Sri Lanka. the findings are also deemed to be helpful for managers and Human Resource professionals in developing employee retention strategies and practices within software development.