Sector switchers, what drives you? Exploring career shifts from private to public sector
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21723391 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sandra Henninger (0009-0008-4433-1967, Universität Hamburg, corresponding author), Rick Vogel (0000-0002-1361-5085, Universität Hamburg) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Pages | 1-36 |
| Publication date | 2025-12-03 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Public Management Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1471-9037 • E-ISSN: 1471-9045 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/14719037.2025.2592770 |
| OpenAlex | W4416941695 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 113 |
In the face of workforce shortages and transformation challenges, private-sector workers are valuable recruitment targets for public employers. However, little is still known about the drivers of career transitions across sectors. This study utilizes panel data from Germany to explore extrinsic, intrinsic, and prosocial values of private-to-public sector switchers vis-à-vis workers who change employers within the private sector. Based on more than 7,000 employer changes, the results suggest that, of the values studied, only prosocial values directed towards society as a whole, including civic values and political interest, increase the likelihood of switching to the public sector compared to switching employers within the private sector. These findings highlight proximity to politics as a unique selling point for public organizations targeting later-career entrants
New public management · Private sector · Public policy · Public sector · Tertiary sector of the economy · Emotional Labor in Professions · Higher Education and Employability · Work-Family Balance Challenges
The Politics of Bureaucracy
Effects of work values on job choice decisions.
Advances in Career Theory and Research
Values at Work
Development of a Public Service Motivation Measurement Scale
The People Make the Place
Does intrinsic motivation fuel the prosocial fire? Motivational synergy in predicting persistence, performance, and productivity.
A quantitative review of the relationship between person–organization fit and behavioral outcomes
Motivation through the design of work
Consequences of Individuals' Fit at Work
Civil Service and Public Employment
The German Socio-Economic Panel (Soep)
Motivational signals in public sector job advertisements and how they relate to attracting and hiring candidates
The Covid-19 pandemic as a game changer for public administration and leadership? The need for robust governance responses to turbulent problems
Public service motivation and prosocial motivation
Digitally-induced change in the public sector
Does performance-related pay and public service motivation research treat state-owned enterprises like a neglected Cinderella? A systematic literature review and agenda for future research on performance effects
Understanding the mobility of public leaders
Workers' self‐selection into public sector employment
Measuring Attraction to Organizations
Zivilgesellschaft als Arbeitsmarkt
The lifetime earnings premium in the public sector
Navigating the complexities of altruistic helping in nonprofit organizations
Public–private hybrid organisations in the public sector
Intention—Behavior Relations
Facing the human capital crisis
The boundaryless career
Work Values, Job Characteristics, and Career Choice Decisions
Revising Perry's Measurement Scale of Public Service Motivation
What Drives the Attractiveness of Public and Private Employers? Comparative Evidence From an Online Employer Review Platform
Public Service Motivation
The Increased Importance of Sector Switching
Representative Bureaucracy and Perceptions of Social Exclusion in Europe
On Value Differences Experienced by Sector Switchers
Business Experts on Public Sector Boards
Imprinting and contested practices
A Comparison of the Values and Commitment of Private Sector, Public Sector, and Parapublic Sector Employees
New Executives from Inside or Outside? The Effect of Executive Replacement on Organizational Change
What’s Valued Most? Similarities and Differences Between the Organizational Values of the Public and Private Sector
Attraction to Public Policy‐making
Public or nonprofit? Career preferences and dimensions of public service motivation
Resigned but Satisfied
Extrinsic motivation, PSM and labour market characteristics
The ‘bounded' career
What is a Public Sector Pension Worth
Who Wants to Work for the Government
Job Switching Motives and Employer Attractiveness
An Analysis of Differences in Work Motivation between Public and Private Sector Organizations
Dynamics of Public Service Motivation
International Comparison of Public and Private Employees’ Work Motives, Attitudes, and Perceived Rewards
The Motivational Bases of Public Service
Public Service Motivation Concepts and Theory
Dynamics of Sector Switching
Inconvenient truths about logistic regression and the remedy of marginal effects
It's about time! Temporal dynamics and longitudinal research designs in public administration
Sector Switching from a Business to a Government Job
For Those Who Care
Crowding Out Intrinsic Motivation in the Public Sector
The Tacit Dimension of Public Sector Attraction in Multi-Incentive Settings
Measuring Public Service Motivation
Which Clients are Deserving of Help? A Theoretical Model and Experimental Test
Prosocial Behaviors
Public Service Motivation and Employment Sector
The Effects of Making Public Service Employees Aware of Their Prosocial and Societal Impact
Goats or wolves? Private sector managers in the public sector
Valuation of sector‐switching and politicization in the governance of corporatized public services
The protean career
Life Span Civic Development and Voting Participation
Public Sector Employment and Voter Turnout
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |