Career plateau and professional plateau: impact on work outcomes of information technology professionals

Career plateau is a popular construct that has been associated with a number of work outcomes. This study introduced a related construct called professional plateau. It is defined as the point where employees find their job unchallenging and it provides few opportunities for professional development and future employability. The study proposed that career plateau and professional plateau are related to three work outcomes: namely, career satisfaction, job satisfaction, and turnover intentions. It also proposed that professional plateau accounts for a significant variance in the three outcomes beyond those accounted for by the objective and perceptual measures of career plateau. The hypotheses were tested using data collected from a questionnaire survey. The results support the hypotheses. One practical implication of these results is that employers need to understand that career plateau and professional plateau are two types of plateau that have impact on the attitudes and intentions of information technology professionals.