What are the attitudes of public managers who have had full-time private sector work experience? Public managers with private sector work experience report diff erent perspectives when compared to their counterparts who have spent their entire careers in the public sector. Th ough private sector work experience negatively correlates with job satisfaction, it only does so for the "new switcher," whose last job was in the private sector. As careers advance, the negative impact seems to wane, leaving a public sector workforce that, in part as a result of their private sector work experience, are relatively more intrinsically motivated and involved in their jobs. We conclude with discussion of implications for human resources management.
Th is paper examines the career consequences for public managers of having had full-time private sector work experience. We fi nd positive career outcomes for public managers with private sector experience: Individuals with such experience are more likely to have been recently promoted relative to peers and to supervise somewhat greater number of employees, especially if their most recent job was in the private sector. While experience in the private sector enhances such career outcomes, the length of such experience diminishes them. Th e authors conclude by identifying three career scenarios emerging from the models and discussing the managerial and theoretical implications of "sector-switching careers."
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