Please create a discussion response to the discussion post below. Must be 175 or more words.
Post pandemic findings
Personally, I believe our society lives a fast-paced lifestyle and the pandemic really forced us to slow down. Some people were fortunate to be able to continue working and sadly, others found themselves without jobs. While this likely created financial stress, I think there was a benefit from the time spent at home and away from extended family. It allowed us to realize the importance of our personal relationships and not take life for granted, our own and the lives of others. These reasons make me believe that the results of the research presented in the article would still be the same.
I think the millennial mentality exists with or without the pandemic. The article discussed data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 cohort (NLSY97) and found that low pay and job dissatisfaction contributed to job switching across sectors (AbouAssi, et.al., 2021). After experiencing the global loss of millions of lives and maybe even losing close relatives, millennials may be realizing that their compensation may not be reflective of their value and worth, not only to the employer but to being away from their families. Others may simply have enjoyed their time away from work and are now realizing that they are not satisfied with the time constraints of a career.
Salary/Pay Hypotheses
Compensation consists of direct and indirect compensation (Snell, et.al., 2015). Employee wages, salary, incentives, bonuses, and commissions are examples of direct compensation while employer provided benefits and nonfinancial compensation, such as employee recognition programs and flexible work hours are examples of indirect compensation (Snell et.al., 2015). Researchers hypothesized that across job sectors, millennials will switch employers or sectors in search of higher wages (AbouAssi, et.al., 2021). The data in Table 1 showed that a percent increase in wages in the year of switch was much higher for the group who switched sectors than the group who switched employer (AbouAssi, et.al., 2021). This result suggests that in order to persuade workers to switch sectors, a larger pay increase is required (AbouAssi, et.al., 2021).
Dissatisfaction Hypotheses
The second hypothesis stated that millennials will more likely leave a current employer or sector as job dissatisfaction increases across job sectors (AbouAssi, et.al., 2021). Snell et. al. mentions that the millennial generation is particularly interested in meaningful work (2015, p. 21). It is common for millennials to switch employers because of dissatisfaction with their jobs but it is less common for them to switch sectors (AbouAssi, et.al., 2021). Job satisfaction can encompass many factors, salary, organizational support, career and personal development, and work flexibility to name a few. Any sort of effort that makes a job feel more rewarding or satisfying by adding meaning to the job is called job enrichment (Snell, et.al., 2015). When employees are intrinsically motivated at their workplace, they take pride in their work and are motivated to do a good job because they feel as though they are making a difference (Snell, et.al., 2015). I believe that the pandemic would not change the results of this research. Millennials would leave their place of employments if they were dissatisfied with their job.
Volunteering Hypotheses
Research discussed in the article suggests that when employees participate in sponsored volunteerism, their commitment to and identification with the organization increases (AbouAssi, et.al., 2021). These results further suggest a potential higher retention rate among employees who also have had a history of volunteerism (AbouAssi, et.al., 2021).
The Great Resignation
The pandemic has pushed many towards telework, home schooling children, and other social and economic changes. These dramatic changes will continue to shape our work decisions even after things return back to normal. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, over 3.6 million people dropped out of the workforce between April and July of this year. This trend was coined the Great Resignation by psychologist Anthony Klotz. I do not believe that only millennials are contributing to the Great Resignation, but I think they make up a large portion of the group. A recent analysis by the Harvard Business Review looked at 9 million employee records and found that resignation rates were the highest among 30–45-year-old employees (Cook, 2021). This showed an average increase of more than 20% between 2020 and 2021 (Cook, 2021).
References
Snell, S., Morris, S., Bohlander, G. W. (2015). Managing human resources (17th Edition). Cengage Learning.
AbouAssi, K., McGinnis Johnson, J., & Holt, S. B. (2021). Job mobility among millennials: do they stay or do they go? Review of Public Personnel Administration, 41(2), 219–249. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734371X19874396
Hoffower, H. (2021, September 18). Geriatric millennials have the most power in the workforce right now. Business Insider. Retrieved November 11, 2021, from https://www.businessinsider.com/geriatric-millennials-great-resignation-have-most-power-workforce-quit-rate-2021-9.
Cook, I. (2021, November 10). Who is driving the great resignation? Harvard Business Review. Retrieved November 11, 2021, from https://hbr.org/2021/09/who-is-driving-the-great-resignation.
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