Based on the French survey Santé et Itinéraire professionnel (SIP), which follows the career paths of employees between 2006 and 2010, this article deals with the relationships between the quality of working and employment conditions and the nature of job mobility, i.e. voluntary, negotiated or enforced. On the one hand, French working conditions surveys show that work intensity remains high, repetitive work has increased and the autonomy of employees has decreased. On the other, the success of the rupture conventionnelle—termination of the permanent contract by mutual agreement, introduced in 2008—and the “plans for voluntary departures” in firms in economic difficulties, raises questions in a recently depressed economic context. One of the factors that can lead an employee to decide or accept to leave his/her job can be linked to the nature of the employment relationship and, primarily, to the quality of working conditions.

To test this hypothesis, using multinomial logistic models, the article estimates correlations between several indicators of working conditions and employment characteristics, and five types of mobility (end of contract, dismissal, resignation, rupture conventionnelle, others).

Results show a positive correlation between difficult working conditions and negotiated departures via the rupture conventionnelle, as well as enforced departures through dismissals and end of contract. In addition, low wages or part-time work are employment characteristics positively correlated with voluntary mobility. This suggests three conclusion : 1- the rupture conventionnelle would be an additional “exit” for employees dissatisfied with their working conditions; 2- bad employment conditions would encourage employees to resign; and finally, 3- some firms would develop human resource management practices that are not concerned with employee loyalty, combining precarious working conditions and job insecurity through the type of mobility and not only the employment contracts.

Keywords: working conditions, job quality, rupture conventionnelle, dismissal, Santé et Itinéraire Professionnel Survey, SIP.