Contemporary Work Cohort - Value, Attitude and Job Satisfaction

Robbins (2003) has proposed Contemporary Work Cohort, in which the unique value of different cohorts is that the U.S. workforce has been segmented by the era they entered the workforce. Individuals‟ values differ, but tend to reflect the societal values of the period in which they grew up. The cohorts and the respective values have been listed below:

1. Veterans – Workers who entered the workforce from the early 1940s through the early 1960s. They exhibited the following value orientations:

They were influenced by the Great Depression and World War II

Ø  Believed in hard work

Ø  Tended to be loyal to their employer

Ø  Terminal values: Comfortable life and family security

2. Boomers – Employees who entered the workforce during the 1960s through the mid-1980s belonged to this category. Their value orientations were:

Ø  Influenced heavily by John F. Kennedy, the civil rights and feminist movements, the Beatles, the Vietnam War, and baby-boom competition

Ø  Distrusted authority, but gave a high emphasis on achievement and material success

Ø  Organizations who employed them were vehicles for their careers

Ø  Terminal values: sense of accomplishment and social recognition

3. Xers – began to enter the workforce from the mid-1980s. They cherished the following values:

Ø  Shaped by globalization, two-career parents, MTV, AIDS, and computers

Ø  Value flexibility, life options, and achievement of job satisfaction

Ø  Family and relationships were important and enjoyed team-oriented work

Ø  Money was important, but would trade off for increased leisure time

Ø  Less willing to make personal sacrifices for employers than previous generations

Ø  Terminal values: true friendship, happiness, and pleasure

4. Nexters – most recent entrants into the workforce.

Ø  Grew up in prosperous times, have high expectation, believe in themselves, and confident in their ability to succeed

Ø  Never-ending search for ideal job; see nothing wrong with job-hopping

Ø  Seek financial success

Ø  Enjoy team work, but are highly self-reliant

Ø  Terminal values: freedom and comfortable life