Turnover e retenção dos militares do regime de contrato da Força Aérea

Mestrado em Gestão de Recursos HumanosO estudo que se apresenta pretendeu identificar os motivos que subjazem à opção dos militares do regime de contrato cessarem voluntariamente o vínculo com a Força Aérea, equacionando eventuais medidas que contribuam para a sua retenção. Tentou-se igualmente: analisar as expectativas de ingresso dos jovens; identificar os fatores que poderiam contribuir para a sua permanência; e ainda analisar de que forma os militares contratados projetam o seu futuro profissional após a saída da instituição. Para a recolha de dados empíricos procedeu-se à realização de entrevistas semi-diretivas a órgãos de chefia da Força Aérea e à aplicação de um questionário aos militares que optaram por sair. Os dados recolhidos permitiram apurar que estes militares ingressaram devido a aspetos simbólicos e operacionais relacionados com a atratividade diferenciada das Forças Armadas face a outras ofertas de emprego civis. A decisão de saída dos militares é norteada por aspetos associados a um projeto profissional, bem como a uma quebra das expectativas iniciais que não obtiveram correspondência na prestação do serviço militar. Os militares que pretendem abandonar a Força Aérea na sua maioria tencionam emigrar e já têm projetos profissionais futuros com propostas concretas de emprego. Os fatores potenciadores da capacidade de retenção são sobretudo instrumentais, seguidos dos profissionais, pelo que a instituição deverá tentar corresponder de uma forma concreta às aspirações dos jovens que a procuraram. Conclui-se a presente investigação com algumas recomendações à Força Aérea, com o intuito de mitigar os motivos que levam ao turnover dos militares do regime de contrato.This study aimed to identify the reasons why military personnel under a fixed-term contract voluntarily leave the Air Force, equating some measures that may contribute to its retention. It also tries to: analyze entrance expectations that led young people to choose the Air Force; identify the factors that could contribute to their retention; and also analyze how the contract military forecast their professional future after leaving the Air Force. Empirical data was collected from semi-directive interviews to command staff of Air Force, and from a questionnaire applied to those military that chose to leave voluntarily. The collected data allowed ascertaining that these soldiers joined the Air Force due to symbolic and operational aspects related with the distinctive attractiveness of the Armed Forces when compared with other civilian jobs. The military's decision to leave is guided by aspects associated with a professional project, as well as a breakdown of initial personal or professional expectations, that had no correspondence in the military service. The soldiers who want to leave the Air Force intend mostly to emigrate and have professional projects with concrete proposals for future employment. Factors enhancing the retention capacity are mainly instrumental, followed by professional, so the institution should correspond in a concrete way to the aspirations of the young people who sought it, at the risk of quickly losing its initial attraction and defraud their expectations. This investigation is concluded framing some recommendations to the Air Force, in order to mitigate the reasons leading to the contract military turnover

Characterisation of microbial attack on archaeological bone

As part of an EU funded project to investigate the factors influencing bone preservation in the archaeological record, more than 250 bones from 41 archaeological sites in five countries spanning four climatic regions were studied for diagenetic alteration. Sites were selected to cover a range of environmental conditions and archaeological contexts. Microscopic and physical (mercury intrusion porosimetry) analyses of these bones revealed that the majority (68%) had suffered microbial attack. Furthermore, significant differences were found between animal and human bone in both the state of preservation and the type of microbial attack present. These differences in preservation might result from differences in early taphonomy of the bones. © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved