Five studies investigated the relationship between professional development or training and staying at the current job or intending to do so. An eight-year cohort study [28] reported that junior faculty members who participated in a development program were 11% more likely to remain at the same job than non-participants (67% vs. 56%, p = 0.04). Additionally, cross-sectional studies showed that professional development opportunities were linked to a higher intention to stay at the current job [16,22,29,42]. Professional development or a training opportunity was the main motivator for staying at a current job, and 80% of laboratory professionals from seven sub-Saharan African countries rated it as the most important or a very important factor for job retention [42]. Younger employees valued continuing professional development more than older employees for staying at the current job [22].

Four studies examined the association between professional development or training and leaving a job or the workforce, and 10 studies examined the intention to leave a job. A large cohort study [27] found that women who attended 4-day early- and mid-career faculty professional development programs were less likely to leave their job than women who did not attend the programs. The programs had a positive effect on women’s job retention, as those who participated more than once were less likely to quit than those who only joined once. A similar finding was reported in a cohort study [12] in which employees who left their first job within six months cited a lack of study days (40%) and other courses (43%) as important factors in their decision. A cross-sectional study found that patients with rheumatoid arthritis who received additional job training after their diagnosis were less likely to leave the workforce than those who did not (adjusted OR 0.5, 95% CI 0.4–0.8) [1]. Dissatisfaction with development opportunities was also a major reason for nurses to leave their job in 51.4% of those who had left their institution [41].

Furthermore, a lack of professional development opportunities [31,32,33] and low perceived investment in employee development [39,40] increased the intention to leave a job. Some of the factors that influenced this intention were a lack of access to professional development [23,38], a lack of study opportunities [23], and a lack of access to courses other than study days [12] and/or study days [12]. A lack of professional opportunities ranked second after a low salary as a reason for leaving nursing care, and this was consistent between nurses aged < 45 years and those aged ≥ 45 years [38]. However, a cross-sectional study showed that a lack of career advancement and mandatory continuing professional development did not affect the intention to leave the dental nursing profession [7]. Another study also found no direct or indirect association between professional development and intention to leave an organization or profession through burnout and work engagement [6].

The relationship between the perceived investment in employee development and employee intention to a leave job was mediated by different factors in two studies [39,40]. Job satisfaction and affective commitment fully explained the relationship between perceived investment in employee development and the intention to leave a job for nurses [40]. For health care professionals in underserviced areas with a government subsidy program, the relationship between perceived investment in employee development and the intention to leave a job was fully explained by employee professional and organizational commitment, while for those without a government subsidy program, there were both direct and indirect effects of perceived investment in employee development on the intention to a leave job [39].

Six studies examined the relationship between turnover intention and professional development. Employees who had domestic training or overseas study outside of work had a turnover intention of 46%, while those who did not have any domestic training or overseas study had a turnover intention of 68% [25]. Several factors related to professional development, such as limited opportunities [24,35], inadequate continuing education [5], dissatisfaction with professional development [37], and low perceived investment in employee development [36] were associated with increased turnover intention. The effect of professional development opportunities on turnover intention differed by gender and profession [5,24]. A higher intention to leave the job was linked to inadequate professional development opportunities for men but not for women [24]. Similarly, doctors who had enough opportunities for continuing professional education had a lower intention to leave, but this was not the case for nurses [5].

Continuing professional education did not affect turnover intention for rural healthcare workers [5]. Moreover, the effect of satisfaction with professional development on turnover intention varied according to length of employment for nurses [37]. Satisfaction with professional development reduced turnover intention for nurses who had been employed for 13 to 18 months but not for those who had been employed for less than 12 months [37]. Training to improve skills or competences reduced turnover intention for nurses who had been employed for less than 6 months, while opportunities for professional development reduced turnover intention for nurses who had been employed for 7 to 24 months [35]. One study investigated the mechanisms underlying the link between perceived investment in employee development and turnover intention [36]. It found that job satisfaction and affective commitment fully mediated this link [36].

Five studies were reviewed on different aspects of career transitions among workers. A Danish study examined the effect of wage-subsidized job training on the duration of return to work and subsequent employment among sick-listed workers. The study found that the intervention shortened the time to return to non-subsidized work by three weeks but did not affect the stability of the subsequent employment [30]. Another study surveyed psychiatrists who moved or did not move to another area; it reported that professional support and development was a key factor in their decision to move to another area for 44% and 47% of them, respectively [26]. A third study investigated the motives for changing a job in the past five years among laboratory professionals from seven sub-Saharan African countries and revealed that the main reasons were lack of professional development or training (27.8%), lack of benefits (23.5%), relocation (22.6%), and poor working conditions (13.0%) [42]. A fourth study that analyzed the rate of early retirement among employees with different levels of domestic off-the-job training and/or overseas study showed that it was lower for those with some training or study (44%) than for those with none (63%) [25]. Lastly, the only study that investigated the relationship between professional development and employment status reported that participants who underwent training to enhance their professional skills had a higher probability of being employed than unemployed [34].