The Bounded Rationality and Behavioral Influence on Career Decisions -A Study on Voluntary Retirees of PSU Banks

Opting for an early Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) is regarded as one of the important career decisions for Public Sector Bank Employees. It is observed that in taking such a major decision, many employees do not act rationally thereby giving scope for regretting on their decisions later on. The bounded rationality approach tends to prohibit them from seeking more details of the VRS offer and verification of future prospects of engagement after early retirement. A number of factors lead them to defend their decision even against adversities and there is a tendency to stick to their initial reasoning. The realization of irrationality comes only after treading in an irreversible path. The decision rationales of employees of Public Sector Banks who opted for VRS in 2000 are studied here in retrospect. The study analyzed major reasons of the employees for quitting the Bank Service under VRS. Study reveals that the younger employees who took VRS for the financial gains of the scheme reported more distress than those who had less number of years left for retirement. The theory of Simon's bounded rationality and the behavioral influences on decision process have found support in this study.