DOI: 10.4018/IJHCITP.2020040106 International Journal of Human Capital and Information Technology Professionals Volume 11 • Issue 2 • April-June 2020  Copyright©2020,IGIGlobal.CopyingordistributinginprintorelectronicformswithoutwrittenpermissionofIGIGlobalisprohibited.  79 Intent to Leave Versus Intent to Stay in Technology Organizations Janine Silva Alves Bello, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Santa Catarina, Brazil https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9290-5584 Andrea Valéria Steil, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Santa Catarina, Brazil ABSTRACT Theintentiontoleaveajobandtheintentiontostayatthejobareconsideredthebestpredictorsof staffturnoverorretention.Basedonthisassumption,thisstudyisaimedatanalyzingtherelationship between demographic variables (employee age, gender, marital status, kinship responsibility, educationlevel),attitudinalvariables(jobsatisfaction,affectivecommitmenttoorganization,carrier commitment)andbehavioralintentions(employees’intentiontoleavethejobandemployees’intention tostayatthejob).FromJunetoDecember2016,on-linequestionnaireswereappliedtoknowledge- intensiveorganizationsemployeesinFlorianópolis,SantaCatarinaState,Brazil.Thisarticlediscusses theresultsandpresentssuggestionsforfurtherinvestigation. KeywORdS Affective Organizational Commitment, Behavioral Intentions, Carrier Commitment, Intention to Leave the Job, Intention to Stay at the Job, Job Satisfaction, Knowledge-Intensive Organizations INTROdUCTION TheInformationTechnology(IT)sectorgeneratesmorethan1.3millionjobsinBrazil.Datafrom theAssociationforthePromotionofExcellenceinBrazilianSoftware(SOFTEX)pointtoadeficit ofmorethan48thousandprofessionals,whichcanresultinanestimatedrevenuelossofaboutUS $30billionforthesectorby2020.ThelackofITprofessionalsincreasesthecompetitionforthese professionals and is a warning to companies to implement human resources policies to maintain theseprofessionals(Harden,Boakye,&Ryan2018).Thelossofskilledandexperiencedemployees canalsoeffectoverallproductivity,profitabilityandproductquality(Noor,Zainuddin,Panigrahi,& Rahim,2018,Harden,Boakye,&Ryan2018). Factorsthatinfluencetheemployees’intentiontoleavethejobdonotnecessarilyinfluence theirintentiontostayatthejob(Bello,2017).Althoughthereisalsonocomplementaryrelationship betweenthesetwoconstructs,theyarethebestpredictorsofstaffturnoverorretention(Steil,Penha, &Bonilla,2016).Failingtoattractandmaintainqualifiedpersonnelwasconsideredthenumberone issueintheConferenceBoard´s2016surveyofglobalCEOs,provingmoreimportantthaneconomic growthandlevelofcompetition(Keller&Meaney,2017).Whilethisisarecentresearchtopic,there