Effects of IT sourcing policy change on job satisfaction of state government IT employees

The issue addressed in this study was whether the change in IT sourcing policy from outsourcing to insourcing affected state government IT employee perceptions of job satisfaction. The key strategic issue in state government sourcing policies is whether the government can deliver maintainable and enhanced services to the public by performing information technology (IT) activities at a lower cost, on time, and with consistent, comparable quality. Job dissatisfaction among government employees can diminish the ability of a state agency to provide adequate services. This quantitative and descriptive study used the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) short form, which was posted on the Web, to collect data from a sample of State of Illinois IT workers. The sample consisted of those who worked during the implementation of outsourcing and continued working during insourcing. The 24 questions on the MSQ addressed perceptions of job satisfaction during both policy phases. The study used inferential statistics using paired t tests to determine differences in perceptions of satisfaction and descriptive statistics to investigate whether answers to each question differed in satisfaction under insourcing and outsourcing. The data analysis revealed no differences in perceptions of satisfaction during outsourcing or insourcing. The study should provide information about sourcing policies for governmental general managers and strategists to balance efficiency, market demand, and the voices of their employees in any decision to outsource or insource service delivery to the public. The results may also contribute to increased understanding of the impact of sourcing on job satisfaction in governmental agencies.