Brain Drain Determinants and Migration-Induced Turnover Intention: Implications for Workforce Sustainability in Nigeria’s Banking Sector

Stella Nkwoji-Opurum

Abstract


Purpose: This study examines the relationship between selected organisational determinants of brain drain and migration-induced turnover intention among employees of selected deposit money banks in the Ketu–Mile 12 axis of Lagos State. It focuses on career growth opportunities, organisational politics, workload, and incentives, considering their individual and combined relationships with employees’ intention to leave their current employment in pursuit of opportunities abroad.

Design: A descriptive survey design was adopted. The accessible population comprised 253 employees across seven selected deposit money banks. Using Yamane’s approach at a 5% level of precision, a minimum sample size of 155 was obtained, while 157 valid responses were analysed. Convenience sampling was used because access to employees across the selected branches was constrained by practical considerations. Data were analysed using SPSS version 26 through descriptive statistics and regression analysis.

Findings: Each determinant was positively and significantly associated with migration-induced turnover intention when examined separately. Career growth opportunities recorded β = .635, p < .001, organisational politics β = .624, p < .001, workload β = .563, p < .001, and incentives β = .777, p < .001. Incentives produced the largest individual explanatory power (R² = .604). The combined model was significant, F(4,152) = 59.359, p < .001, and explained 61.0% of the variance. In the combined model, incentives remained significant (B = .626, β = .813, p < .001), whereas workload, career growth opportunities, and organisational politics were not statistically significant. The very high VIF values for three predictors indicate severe multicollinearity, requiring cautious interpretation of unique coefficients.

Practical implications: Retention strategies should place particular attention on credible and competitive incentive systems while also addressing career progression, workload and organisational fairness as interconnected features of the employment environment. Management should avoid interpreting any single organisational factor in isolation when designing workforce-retention interventions.

Originality/value: The study extends the discussion of brain drain by examining migration-induced turnover intention as an organisationally relevant precursor to potential cross-border talent loss and by integrating organisational push conditions with intention-based behavioural reasoning in the Nigerian banking context.

Keywords: Brain drain; migration-induced turnover intention; career growth opportunities; organisational politics; workload; incentives; Nigerian banking sector.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.58869/EJABM12(2)/04


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European Journal of Applied Business and Management

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