Millennials changing the game: the new generations challenging the workplace

Abstract

Purpose: With a substantial presence of Generation Y members in the workforce and a growing number of Generation Z employees, managers are increasingly confronted with the challenge of navigating intergenerational differences among employees. In this research endeavour, the authors sought to explore the anticipated impacts of the emerging generation on work dynamics. Specifically, the objective is to discern potential disparities among generational cohorts concerning their attitudes toward work centrality and how these disparities might influence work engagement, with a particular emphasis on Generation Z. Methodology: The research endeavour was based on data from 204 participants spanning various generational cohorts aged between 19 and 48 years. The survey gathered data on the respondents’ demographic, work centrality, and work-related aspects and well-being. A Spearman’s rank-order correlation and a t-test were used for data analysis in SPSS. Findings and implications: The findings revealed a significant correlation between age and work engagement, as well as between work centrality and work engagement, suggesting nuanced relationships within the diverse age groups in the workforce. Limitations: The study mostly concentrated on the research context of the Republic of North Macedonia, leaving space for cross-regional and ross-country studies. Originality: As the workforce becomes increasingly diverse in terms of age, newer generations are instigating a transformation in workplace values, consequently shaping a novel professional environment. This leads to a growing interest in academic and practitioner circles. Yet, after an extensive search query in the Scopus database, it was found that there were very few articles detailing the differences in work centrality and work engagement levels among different age groups. So, this study will attempt to fill this gap.