A Belgian study investigated the effects of generational, contextual and individual influences on the career expectations of those born between 1980 and 2000 (the Millennial generation). Economic recession leads to lower levels of optimism. In times of recession, Millennials have lower expectations about work–life balance and social atmosphere but their expectations regarding job content, training, career development and financial rewards remain high.
The entry into the workforce of large numbers of the Millennial generation (those born between 1980 and 2000) over the last decade or so has given them the power to reshape the rules of play at work. As a result, practitioners have become increasingly interested in this new generation. A study (210Kb PDF) by the Vlerick Management School (De Vos and De Hauw, 2010) sought to investigate the effect of generational, contextual and individual influences on Millennials’ career expectations.
Research method
In 2006 and 2009, two matched sets of Millennials from three universities in the Flemish-speaking part of Belgium filled out a questionnaire about their psychological contract expectations, career strategy and optimism about the labour market. The two sets of students completed the questionnaire just before graduating with a Masters degree and in completely different socioeconomic contexts.
The 2006 sample consisted of 787 students (56.7% women) with a mean age of 23 years. The average student in this sample was born in 1983, grew up in Flanders during the prosperous 1990s, and graduated in a period of economic growth.
The 2009 sample consisted of 825 students (57.8% women) with a mean age of 23 years. The average student in this sample was born in 1986 and grew up in Flanders during the prosperous 1990s, but graduated in a period of economic recession.
By comparing two matched samples of Millennials in two different socioeconomic situations, the study was able to disentangle generational, contextual and individual influences on their psychological contract expectations. Data were obtained using self-assessment questionnaires which measured optimism, careerism and expectations about employer incentives. All responses were provided using five-point Likert scales. After reliability analyses, scale scores were created for all measures by averaging responses to the associated items.
Conceptualisation
An important framework for understanding Millennials’ career expectations is the anticipatory psychological contract. This is defined as individuals’ pre-employment beliefs about their future employment, including promises they want to make to their future employers and incentives they expect to receive in return. A breach of these expectations can have a detrimental effect on outcomes such as job satisfaction, commitment, job performance and intention to stay in the job. In relation to this contract, it is assumed that Millennials have higher expectations about certain aspects of working life. This group increasingly expects meaningful and challenging jobs that yield learning opportunities and help them advance their career. Money would be less important, and work-life balance and autonomy more important.
The study analysed these expectations and looked at how they could be influenced by socioeconomic context (that is, recession or not).
Results
The study’s statistical quantitative results (hierarchical regression analysis), which can be found in Table 3 of the report, reveal first that Millennials’ expectations related to job content, career development, training, financial rewards and job security are affected by generational influences, while their expectations regarding work–life balance and social atmosphere are affected by contextual influences. This suggests that Millennials are willing to put in extra effort and working hours, and lessen their social time at work (for example, coffee breaks), to help the organisation succeed in difficult times.
Secondly, the study provided evidence for the effect of careerism and optimism such as individual job beliefs on Millennials’ psychological contract expectations. Optimism reflects an individual’s positive interpretation of their opportunities in the labour market. Careerism is defined as a cosmopolitan career strategy emphasising a preference for changing organisations frequently to get ahead.
A significant effect of careerism was found on expectations related to job content, career development, training, financial rewards and job security. However, no association was found between careerism and expectations related to social atmosphere and work–life balance, suggesting that these expectations are mostly determined by contextual variables. In addition, the results indicate a positive relationship between Millennials’ level of optimism about their opportunities in the labour market and their expectations regarding job content, career development, training, financial rewards and social atmosphere.
These findings suggest that there may not only be a direct link between context and psychological contract expectations, but also an indirect link via optimism (that is, an individual factor reflecting one’s subjective interpretation of the socioeconomic context).
Implications
According to the report’s authors, these findings have important implications for managers who currently have limited resources with which to meet Millennials’ expectations. The authors suggest that it remains important, even in difficult times, to work out an attractive career deal consisting of:
- meaningful work, such as restructuring the work organisation or adding new responsibilities to the job;
- sufficient learning opportunities such as feedback, mentoring or coaching;
- opportunities for career development (for example, lateral moves) that are creative and less expensive alternatives to more costly investment in formal training or promotions.
However, the report ends with the remark that it is also plausible that economic recession not only influences Millennials’ psychological contract expectations but also affects how they perceive and react to the failure of an organisation to meet their expectations. In times of economic recession, Millennials might understand that an organisation is faced with limited resources and accept that it might be temporarily unable to respond to all their demands. Therefore, breaching Millennials’ demands might have a smaller effect on outcome variables such as intention to stay in the job than is proposed in the study. Further research is needed to investigate this moderating effect of economic recession on the association between psychological contract breach and outcomes.
Commentary
Two important remarks need to be made about the key findings, which are also mentioned by the authors at the end of their report.
- The sample includes only Millennials who are studying for a Masters. Although the study controls for the type of university degree, the question remains as to whether the high level of expectations and the dynamics that created these expectations also exist in samples of less well qualified Millennials.
- The study focuses on the psychological contracts of Millennials who have not yet embarked on their professional careers. Therefore, no statements can be made about possible changes in Millennials’ psychological contracts after the transition from college to work. Longitudinal research is needed to address possible changes in Millennials’ psychological contracts during this transition period.
Reference
De Vos, A. and De Hauw, S., Do different times call for different measures? The psychological contract of the Millennial generation in times of economic recession, Vlerick Leuven Gent Working Paper Series 2010/02, Gent and Leuven, Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School, 2010, available online at http://www.vlerick.com/en/12961-VLK/version/default/part/AttachmentData/data/vlgms-wp-2010-02.pdf.
Guy Van Gyes, Research Institute for Work and Society (HIVA), Catholic University of Leuven (K.U.Leuven)