Generation X and Generation Y in the workplace: A study comparing work values of Generation X and Generation Y.

摘要

The purpose of this research study was to investigate the work values of Generation X born between 1960 and 1980, and Generation Y born between 1981 and 1993, within an organization's workplace environment, to determine whether differences existed in their work values. An invitation to participate in the study was placed on Facebook, a social networking site, asking for participants who met the study's criteria. The criteria included (a) being employed, (b) being a United States citizen, and (c) being born between the years of 1960–1993. Those who agreed to participate, were given a link to SurveyMonkey, where they were first presented with a letter outlining the criteria for the study and asking the participants to sign a consent form electronically, giving his or her consent to participate in the study. Once the permission form was signed, the participant was given an opportunity to complete the survey. To reach statistical significance, there should be no fewer than 128 study participants from Generation X and Y. The researcher eliminated surveys of individuals not born between 1960 and 1993. After the survey collection phase, the data was entered into SPSS worksheet and analyzed. The worksheet, like the survey, was divided into several categories. The other categories were used to gather data about their beliefs or feelings concerning the factors that influenced their work values at work, their positive and negative relationships, and styles of management in the workplace. The utilization of the appropriate descriptive analyses, regression analysis, and ANOVA tests were used to either accept or reject the null hypotheses, and thereby address the research questions. Descriptive statistics and ANOVA analysis were used to test all (three) hypotheses, which determined if statistically significant differences existed among the generations with regard to the dependent variables. Findings showed that work values differed significantly only on the measure of management between Generation X and Generation Y.