Eddy S. Ng

How have careers changed? An investigation of changing career patterns across four generations

Purpose – Popular literature argues that successive generations are experiencing more job changes and changes of employer. The “new careers” literature also proposes that career mobility patterns are becoming more diverse as people engage in more downward and lateral job changes and changes of occupation. The purpose of this paper is to test these assertions by comparing the career mobility patterns across four generations of workers. Design/methodology/approach – The authors analyzed the career mobility patterns of four generations of Canadian professionals (n=2,555): Matures (born prior to 1946); Baby Boomers (1946-1964); Generation Xers (1965-1979) and Millennials (1980 or later). Job mobility, organizational mobility and the direction of job moves were compared across groups through analysis of variance. Findings – Significant differences were observed in job mobility and organizational mobility of the various generations, with younger generations being more mobile. However, despite significant enviro...

Ethno-cultural diversity and organizational effectiveness: a field study

This paper examines the relationship between ethno-cultural diversity and attitudinal and non-attitudinal measures of organizational performance in a field setting. Data were collected from ninety-eight respondents in seven branches of a leading Canadian bank. As compared to culturally homogeneous branches, the culturally heterogeneous branches experienced lower levels of absenteeism and achieved higher productivity and financial profitability despite their lower scores on job satisfaction, organizational commitment and workplace coherence, and higher rates of turnover. These relationships were moderated by age, job tenure, organizational position, childrens age, location of education and previous employment, birthplace and education level.

Comparing apples to apples: A qualitative investigation of career mobility patterns across four generations

Purpose – This study aims to compare the career patterns of Matures, Baby Boomers, Generation Xers and Millennials over the various stages of their careers to determine whether there have been notable shifts away from the “traditional” career model characterized by long‐term linear, upward career movement, toward a “modern” career model characterized by increased job mobility, organizational mobility and multi‐directional career movement.Design/methodology/approach – The retrospective career accounts of 105 Canadians were gathered through review of resume information and semi‐structured interviews. The job changes and organizational changes experienced by each respondent in each five‐year career period (e.g. age 20‐24, 25‐29) and the direction of job changes (i.e. upward, downward, lateral or change of career track) were recorded. The generations were compared statistically on each of these measures through analysis of variance (ANOVA).Findings – Significant inter‐generational differences were observed on...

Career Choice in Canadian Public Service: An Exploration of Fit with the Millennial Generation

A recent survey of 19,261 university students in Canada revealed the Government of Canada as the employer of choice, among the millennial generation. Drawing on the employer knowledge framework, we explore how the Millennials make career choices, what they find attractive, and how public service may help them achieve their career goals, work values, and work/life choices. Specifically, the Millennials prioritized balancing personal life and career, pursuing further education, and contributing to society as their top career goals. Those who indicated a career choice in public service also rated high ethical standards, social responsibility, and a progressive working environment as ideal employer characteristics. Moreover, the Millennials also consider an inclusive work environment and having diverse colleagues to be important factors when accepting employment. Overall, there appears to be a good fit between the factors the Millennials find important and a career choice in public service. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Keeping up! Older workers' adaptation in the workplace after age 55.

Comment les travailleurs âgés, après l’âge de 55 ans, peuvent-ils se maintenir et s’adapter à un milieu de travail en évolution? En explorant cette question, cette étude a examiné précisément comment les changements liés à l’âge touchent aux travailleurs, comment les travailleurs âgés font face à une perte de ressources, comment ils s’engagent dans la gestion de leur vie, et pourquoi certains parmi eux réussissent plus que d’autres. Une analyse profondie a été réalisée en utilisant 32 entretiens semi-directifs menés avec les travailleurs âgés de 55 a 64 ans. Une analyse profondie a été réalisée en utilisant 32 entretiens semi-directifs menés avec les travailleurs âgés de 55 a 64 ans. Nos conclusions suggèrent que les travailleurs les plus vieux utilisent diverses stratégies pour s’adapter à un changement de ressources, et que ces stratégies les aident à se débrouiller et maintenir leur fonctionnement dans leur milieu de travail. Comme les plus vieux travailleurs exigent des types différents de soutien d’employeur, notre étude fournit une compréhension de comment les employeurs peuvent fournir ce soutien pour encourager de plus vieux travailleurs pour rester dans la main-d’oeuvre plus longue. Nous suggérons aussi plusieurs avenues pour la recherche future, y compris explorer le rôle de sources internes de soutien. How do older workers keep up and adapt to a changing workplace after age 55? In exploring that question, this study specifically examined how age-related changes affect workers, how older workers deal with a loss of resources, how they engage in life management, and why some are more successful than others. An in-depth analysis was undertaken using 32 semi-structured interviews conducted with workers aged 55 to 64. Findings revealed that older workers use various strategies to adapt to a change in resources, and that these strategies help them cope and maintain their functioning in the workplace. Because older workers require different types of employer support, this study offers an understanding of how employers can provide that support to encourage older workers to remain in the workforce longer. Several avenues for future research are suggested, including an exploration of the role played by internal sources of support.

Social regulation and diversity management: A comparative study of France, Canada and the UK:

Much of the diversity management debate is trapped in a binary opposition between regulation and voluntarism. We argue for an evidence-based approach and illustrate this by offering a context-sensitive overview of workforce diversity debate and practice in three countries: France, Canada and the UK. We use Reynaud’s social regulation theory in order to challenge the assumption that there is a clear separation between regulation and voluntarism. The article unpacks the complexities and ambivalences of regulation of workforce diversity, which is generated by multiple influences.

Temporary Work, Underemployment and Workplace Accommodations: Relationship to Well‐Being for Workers with Disabilities

This study examines whether employment status and workplace accommodations are associated with perceived well-being among workers with disabilities. Data from the 2006 Participation and Activity Limitation Survey conducted by Statistics Canada were used to test the relationship between employment status, receipt of workplace accommodations and well-being. Findings indicated that fully utilized permanent employees showed greater life satisfaction and less perceived disability-related discrimination than either temporary workers or permanent workers who were underemployed. These findings support the theory that inadequate employment is associated with deleterious effects on employee well-being due to inferior need fulfilment and reduced social status. Workplace accommodations were associated with higher levels of well-being for all workers with disabilities and helped to mitigate the negative effects of temporary status and underemployment. These findings supported the theoretical extension of main effect and buffering models of workplace stress to the prediction of perceived workplace discrimination.

Anticipated Discrimination and a Career Choice in Nonprofit: A Study of Early Career Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered (LGBT) Job Seekers

As a stigmatized group, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered (LGBT) individuals are vulnerable to employment discrimination and receive little legal protection. They have had to cope with discrimination and engage in identity management to conceal their sexual identity. This study seeks to determine whether LGBT individuals, in anticipation of discrimination, have lower initial career expectations, espouse more altruistic work values, and make career choices based on those work values, when compared to heterosexual individuals. Using data from a large survey of postsecondary students, we found that LGBT individuals, after controlling for age, visible minority status, and major of study, reported lower salary expectations than heterosexual individuals. LGBT individuals were also more likely than their heterosexual counterparts to espouse “altruistic” work values and to indicate a career choice in the nonprofit sector. We suggest that “altruism” may be an important work value that is related to a career choice in the public and nonprofit sectors.

Changing Demographics and the Shifting Nature of Careers Implications for Research and Human Resource Development

Research on human resource development is needed to empirically document the changing nature of careers among successive generational cohorts of workers. This article offers a conceptual framework for examining shifting careers, which accounts for important demographic shifts occurring in the labor force. Our research framework provides a comprehensive set of career-related variables (including career expectations, experience, and outcomes) for investigation. We illustrate the need to consider confounding influences of other demographic shifts in the study of changing careers, using the Canadian context as an illustrative example. We further argue that generational differences may be confounded with gender, immigration, and socioeconomic effects, and therefore, all three effects need to be considered simultaneously with generation. We identify some of the challenges faced by organizations in adjusting to these shifts and conclude with directions for future research.

Vocational status and perceived well‐being of workers with disabilities

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the different employment statuses of under‐employment, temporary employment, unemployment and non‐participation in the labor force are associated with perceived well‐being among persons with disabilities.Design/methodology/approach – The authors used data from the 2006 Participation and Activity Limitation Survey (PALS) conducted by Statistics Canada to develop six categories of employment status. OLS regression analysis was used for hypothesis testing.Findings – Findings indicated that fully utilized permanent employees show the highest level of life satisfaction while unemployed persons searching for work have the lowest levels of life satisfaction and the highest levels of perceived workplace discrimination. Permanent employees whose skills are greatly underutilized show the second‐lowest level of life satisfaction and equally high perceived workplace discrimination as unemployed persons. Non‐participants in the labor force show life satisfactio...