Employees with relevant knowledge and skills for digitalization have become increasingly important for the competitiveness of MNCs. However, the shortage of such digital human capital in many host countries is putting pressure on MNC subsidiaries to prevent these employees from leaving. We theorize that the retention of digital human capital in MNC subsidiaries does not merely depend on salaries but crucially on the learning opportunities that subsidiaries offer. By integrating mechanisms from the literature on subsidiary-specific advantages into theoretical models explaining voluntary mobility constraints of employees, we reason that the opportunities for acquiring new skills in subsidiaries with advanced digital expertise will reduce the odds of losing these valuable employees. We test our theoretical predictions for 11,598 employees with digital human capital working for 866 foreign MNC subsidiaries in Denmark observed between 2002 and 2012. We find that digital expertise helps retaining digital human capital. The effect is stronger if subsidiaries have an internationally diverse workforce and when they possess patented technologies. Both factors provide distinct learning opportunities from digital expertise. The effect is weaker if the subsidiary is located in regional clusters of digital expertise since alternative employers may offer similar learning opportunities.

拥有数字化相关知识和技能的员工对于跨国公司的竞争力变得越来越重要。然而，许多东道国缺乏此类数字人力资本，这给跨国公司子公司施加了压力，要求他们阻止这些员工离开。我们推测，跨国公司子公司中数字人力资本的保留不仅取决于薪水，还取决于子公司提供的学习机会。通过将关于子公司特定优势的文献中的机制整合到解释员工自愿流动限制的理论模型中，我们推断，在具有先进数字专业知识的子公司中获得新技能的机会将降低失去这些有价值员工的可能性。我们测试我们对 11 的理论预测，2002 年至 2012 年间，在丹麦的 866 家外国跨国公司子公司工作的 598 名员工拥有数字人力资本。我们发现数字专业知识有助于保留数字人力资本。如果子公司拥有国际多元化的劳动力并拥有专利技术，则效果会更强。这两个因素都提供了来自数字专业知识的独特学习机会。如果子公司位于数字专业知识的区域集群中，则效果会较弱，因为替代雇主可能会提供类似的学习机会。这两个因素都提供了来自数字专业知识的独特学习机会。如果子公司位于数字专业知识的区域集群中，则效果会较弱，因为替代雇主可能会提供类似的学习机会。这两个因素都提供了来自数字专业知识的独特学习机会。如果子公司位于数字专业知识的区域集群中，则效果会较弱，因为替代雇主可能会提供类似的学习机会。