Staff turnover is an endemic issue in the hospitality industry, worldwide. Voluntary staff
turnover has been the focus of many studies in the past decades and many researchers have
constantly intended to connect a number of variables to it. This study deals with a human
perspective of staff turnover and the aim was to add to the understanding of staff turnover
within the hospitality industry. This was achieved by conducting in-depth interviews with
hotel workers in three and four-star hotels in Reykjavík, Iceland. The causes and impacts of
the turnover was examined with qualitative method. Investigation of the factors influencing
employees’ intention to leave their current organization and the impact staff turnover causes
to the remaining staff was carried out. The results revealed that professional advancement is a
critical predictor for the employees to leave, along with factors such as work content,
personal reasons, organizational factors and the nature of the tourism industry. Furthermore,
the impact staff turnover causes on the staff are factors such as social connections, increased
responsibilities and time and energy consumption.
2018.