MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING THE STATE BANK OF VIET NAM BANKING UNIVERSITY OF HO CHI MINH CITY LE THUY TUYET NGHI FACTORS INFLUENCING JOB SATISFACTION: A CASE STUDY OF GENERATION Z IN WHITE-COLLAR SECTOR IN HO CHI MINH CITY GRADUATE THESIS MAJOR: BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION CODE: 7340101 SUPERVISOR Dr. Bui Duc Sinh HO CHI MINH CITY, 2022 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING THE STATE BANK OF VIET NAM BANKING UNIVERSITY OF HO CHI MINH CITY LE THUY TUYET NGHI FACTORS INFLUENCING JOB SATISFACTION: A CASE STUDY OF GENERATION Z IN WHITE-COLLAR SECTOR IN HO CHI MINH CITY GRADUATE THESIS MAJOR: BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION CODE: 7340101 SUPERVISOR Dr. Bui Duc Sinh HO CHI MINH CITY, 2022 i ABSTRACT Job satisfaction is a high priority for the Human Resources workforce since the level of employees’ contentment could lead to higher productivity, profitability, and complete organizational commitment. In recent years, most organizations have faced considerable challenges in attracting and retaining employees from Generation Z since they appear to have higher requirements for their jobs compared to their predecessors.
Thus, the objective of this study is to investigate the factors influencing Generation Z employees working in offices in Ho Chi Minh City. Preliminary quantitative research was initially conducted with 50 participants to modify the scales and eliminate unreliable items. Subsequently, official data were collected from 300 Generation Z employees in Ho Chi Minh City via an online questionnaire. The results reveal seven proposed factors contributing to Generation Z officers in Ho Chi Minh City.
In which, Salary & Benefits have the most decisive effect on job satisfaction of this age group, while the weakest component is Working environement. The study also presents practical implications and further research directions to enrich this aspect of human resources management. Keywords: Job satisfaction, Generation Z, Human Resources Management ii DECLARATION I formally declare that I wrote this thesis under the guidance of Dr. Bui Duc Sinh; and the findings presented in this thesis are honest and not against ethical issues in conducting research.
I clearly listed all the literature and sources that I employed while writing this academic research. Moreover, I commit that the data collected were confidential and solely used for this thesis. I am fully responsible if the violation of this regulation is found in my thesis. Author’s signature iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Words cannot describe my gratitude to my family and beloved friends who emotionally and mentally supported me whenever I struggled with my thesis.
This endeavor could not have been possible without their encouragement. Besides, I sincerely appreciate every respondent who was willing to participate in the survey so that the data collection process could occur efficiently. Eventually, I would like to express my appreciation to Dr. Bui Duc Sinh.
His instructions and constructive advice have helped improve my thesis significantly. Without his supervision, this thesis would not have been completed effectively. iv TABLES OF CONTENT ABSTRACT. iii LIST OF ACRONNYMS.
vii LIST OF TABLES. ix LIST OF FIGURES .4 Research Subjects and Scope .4 SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 1 .5 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .1 Definition of Generation Z .2 Characteristics of Generation Z .1 Definitions of job satisfaction .2 Measures of job satisfaction .3 Theories on motivation .1 Abraham Maslow’s Need Theory (1943) .2 Herzberg’s two-factor theory .3 Vroom’s expectancy theory .5 Research Model and Hypotheses .22 SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 2 .4 Preliminary quantitative research .1 Preliminary quantitative research process .2 Preliminary quantitative research results .6 Data Analysis Techniques .2 Cronbach’s Alpha Analysis .3 Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) .5 Testing differences based on Controlled Variables .44 SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 3 .2 Scale Reliability Testing .3 Exploratory Factor Analysis .1 Factor analysis for the independent variable .2 Factor analysis for the dependent variable .1 Tests of Model Fit .6 Testing differences based on Controlled Variables .1 Testing differences in gender .2 Testing differences in income .3 Testing differences in experience .4 Testing differences in specialization .65 SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 4 .3 Limitations and further research .73 APPENDIX 1: MEASUREMENT SCALES OF OBSERVED VARIABLES .84 APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY .87 APPENDIX 3: PRELIMINARY RESEARCH RESULTS .92 APPENDIX 4: DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS .97 APPENDIX 5: CRONBACH’S ALPHA .104 APPENDIX 6: EXPLORATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS (EFA) .108 APPENDIX 7: CORRELATION ANALYSIS .113 APPENDIX 8: REGRESSION ANALYSIS .115 APPENDIX 9: TESTS OF DIFFERENCES .118 vii LIST OF ACRONNYMS Acronyms Meaning SB Salary & Benefits WE Working environment JC Job Characteristics TP Training & Promotion SV Supervisor CW Co-workers WLB Work-life Balance JS Job Satisfaction SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences SIG Significance level ANOVA Analysis of Variance EFA Exploratory Factor Analysis KMO Kaiser-Mayer-Olkin VIF Variance inflation factor JDI Job Descriptive Index MSQ Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire JSS Job Satisfaction Survey JDS Job Diagnostic Survey GJS Global Job Satisfaction viii JIG Job in General Scale HRM Human Resource Management ix LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1 - Previous studies summary .2 - Summary of the author's hypotheses and expectations .1 - Measurement scale of observed variables .2 - Scale Reliability Testing of Preliminary quantitative research .3 - Formal Research Scale .2 - Reliability Analysis Results .3 - Factor analysis for the independent variables.4 - Factor analysis for Dependent variable .5 - Pearson correlation analysis .9 - Summary of hypothesis testing results .10 - One-way analysis of variance by gender .11 - One-way analysis of variance by income .12 - Post Hoc test by Income .13 - One-way analysis of variance by Experience .14 - One-way analysis of variance by Specialization .15 - Beta synthesis and the influence level of 7 factors .66 x LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 - Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs .2 - Herzberg’s two-factor theory .3 - Vroom’s expectancy theory .4 - Proposed research model .2 – Completed research model .61 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Chapter 1 explains why this topic was chosen and provides an overview of research objectives, questions, methodologies, and research scope. Additionally, this chapter also presents the research’s significance in terms of academics and practice. Eventually, the presentation structure of this research is outlined.1 Research Statement Job satisfaction is one of major priorities of Human Resources personnel since high job satisfaction could reduce turnover, increase work productivity and build organizational loyalty within employees.
Because of its significance, job satisfaction has sparked the widespread interest of social psychologists, researchers and administrators. They have developed instruments to measure the level of satisfaction of employees towards their jobs, some of which are Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) (Weiss et al., 1967), Job Description Index (JDI) (Smith, Kendall & Hulin, 1969), Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS) (Hackman, Oldham, 1974) and Job Satisfaction Survey (Spector, 1997). However, those instruments seem quite general since they failed to fully reflect different aspects of both typical and specific organizations. Some of them were proposed based on white-collar jobs while the others were solely applicable for specific sectors such as healthcare and service workers (Astrauskaite et al.
On the other hand, this diversity has demonstrated different aspects of organizational sectors and provided academic scholars a variety of options which suit the sample of their research. As a result, most previous studies related to job satisfaction, researchers had to modify the chosen instrument or combine it with another in order to propose a model thats fit their organizations. It is noticeable that each generation has different patterns in perceptions, working styles and job satisfaction because they grow up in dissimilar economic 1 situations, social conditions and cultural environment. Thus, it is crucial for corporates to understand every generation in order to create and retain a suitable workplace.
Granted that extensive studies have conducted on Millennial or Generation Y over the past decades, but little to none on Centennial or Generation Z. Meanwhile, Generation Z is gradually entering the labor market while the Baby Boomers are beginning their retirement. According to PwC’s report “How digital ready is Generation Z” - Findings from PwC Vietnam’s Digital Readiness Survey 2020, Generation Z is estimated to account for roughly one-third of the total Vietnamese labor market by 2025. In recent years, all contemporary organizations have faced a significant challenge in attracting and retaining Generation Z employees since they seem to have more demands in their jobs compared to their predecessors.
Accordingly, a deeper and insightful understanding about the characteristics of this cohort and their job expectations could help reduce generation gap and foster collaboration among different generations in the workplace. Globally, there are some studies on this new generation using quantitative method conducted by Aggarwal et al. (2020) and Husainah, Hafnidar & Limakrisna (2022), and some of them are mainly based on secondary data. In Vietnam, research on Generation Z’s job satisfaction has been rarely found.
Having recognized the generation shift in the current labor market and its significant effect in the long run, the author decided to choose the topic: “Factors influencing job satisfaction: A case study of Generation Z in white-collar sector in Ho Chi Minh city” to explore and examine factors affecting this new generation.2 Research Objectives The general objective of this study is to determine factors affecting the job satisfaction of Generation Z working in Ho Chi Minh City. Subsequently, management implications will be suggested based on the research results to help bridge the generation gap in the current labor market. In order to achieve these aims, this study has the following specific objectives: 2 To identify factors contributing to job satisfaction of Generation Z working in different speclizations in Ho Chi Minh City. To measure the impact level of each factor on job satisfaction of Generation Z working in different speclizations in Ho Chi Minh City.
To suggest management implications to improve Generation Z’s job satisfaction.3 Research Questions Based on the research objectives and research problems above, this study concentrates on answering the following questions: Which factors are affecting on job satisfaction of Generation Z? How is the degree of influence of each factor on job satisfaction of Generation Z? Which management implications could enhance job satisfaction of Generation Z? 1.4 Research Subjects and Scope This study concentrates on investigating the influence of factors on job satisfaction of Generation Z. In terms of space: This study focuses on Generation Z who are from 20 to 27 years old and currently working in Ho Chi Minh City. In terms of time: The fundamental statistical information is gathered by conducting a questionnaire from October 2022 to November 2022.5 Research Methodology This study involves both qualitative technique and quantitative techniques. The qualitative technique involves collecting and analyzing non-numerical data through articles, theories, and previous studies related to factors affecting job satisfaction.
Based on those resources, this study proposes a model of factors contributing to job satisfaction of Generation Z in Ho Chi Minh City. 3 Quantitative technique involves collecting and analyzing numerical data by undertaking a survey into job satisfaction whose participants are mainly from 20 to 27 years old and currently working in Ho Chi Minh City. Subsequently, this research uses SPSS 22.0 to perform the following quantitative analysis: Descriptive statistics of the sample Internal Consistency (Cronbach Alpha) Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) Correlation Analysis Regression Analysis 1.6 Research Significance Identifying, assessing, and analyzing factors that are currently contributing to Generation Z’s job satisfaction could help gain better insights about this generation and their job expectations. Statistical evidence and conclusions of this thesis could help overcome the generation gap in the workplace as well as increase job satisfaction and organizational commitment of Generation Z.7 Research Structure Besides the cover page, the declaration, acknowledgment, table of contents, lists of acronyms, figures, and tables, abstract, as well as references, and appendixes, this thesis includes five chapters as follows: Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Literature Review Chapter 3: Methodology Chapter 4: Results Chapter 5: Conclusions & Implications 4 SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 1 This chapter has discussed an overview issues-related this topic, including the urgency of the research, research objectives and questions, research’s methods, and data, and finally the research’s contributions.