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New Generation, Great Expectations: A Field Study of the Millennial Generation

Journal of Business and Psychology volume 25, pages 281–292 (2010)Cite this article

Abstract

Purpose

This study investigated the career expectations and priorities of members of the “millennial” generation (born in or after 1980) and explored differences among this cohort related to demographic factors (i.e., gender, race, and year of study) and academic performance.

Design/Methodology/Approach

Data were obtained from a national survey of millennial undergraduate university students from across Canada (N = 23,413). Data were analyzed using various multivariate techniques to assess the impacts of demographic variables and academic achievement on career expectations and priorities.

Findings

Millennials placed the greatest importance on individualistic aspects of a job. They had realistic expectations of their first job and salary but were seeking rapid advancement and the development of new skills, while also ensuring a meaningful and satisfying life outside of work. Our results suggest that Millennials’ expectations and values vary by gender, visible minority status, GPA, and year of study, but these variables explain only a small proportion of variance.

Implications

Changing North American demographics have created a crisis in organizations as they strive to recruit and retain the millennial generation, who purportedly hold values, attitudes, and expectations that are significantly different from those of the generations of workers that preceded them. A better understanding of the Millennials’ career expectations and priorities helps employers to create job offerings and work environments that are more likely to engage and retain millennial workers.

Originality/Value

This is a large-sample study that provides benchmark results for the millennial generation, which can be compared to results from other generational cohorts, and to millennial cohorts in the future as they progress through their life-cycle. This is one of the few studies that examines demographic heterogeneity within the millennial cohort.

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Notes

  1. All figures reported are in Canadian dollars.

  2. Visible minority refers a person who is identified, according Statistics Canada, as someone who is non-Caucasian in race or nonwhite in color.

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Acknowledgements

Preparation of this manuscript is supported in part by a SSHRC grant to the research team. The authors would like to thank Brainstorm, DECODE, and Universum for making the data available to us. We also wish to thank Lisa Kuron for her invaluable contributions to the preparation and revision of this article.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Business Administration, California State Polytechnic University, 3801 West Temple Ave, Pomona, CA, 91768, USA

    Eddy S. W. Ng

  2. Sprott School of Business, Carleton University, 710 Dunton Tower, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada

    Linda Schweitzer

  3. University of Guelph, 50 Stone Rd. E, 213 J.D. McLachlan Bldg, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada

    Sean T. Lyons

Authors
  1. Eddy S. W. Ng
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  2. Linda Schweitzer
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  3. Sean T. Lyons
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Correspondence to Sean T. Lyons.

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Ng, E.S.W., Schweitzer, L. & Lyons, S.T. New Generation, Great Expectations: A Field Study of the Millennial Generation. J Bus Psychol 25, 281–292 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-010-9159-4

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