Job satisfaction and organizational commitment: comparing Generations X and Y

Generation Y and Generation X comprise the majority of the workforce in Kazakhstan. This article attempts to unfold the origins of generational differences in job satisfaction and organizational commitment by focusing on its effect on employees who strongly absorbed the communist ideology and those who ended up in a newly formed country at an early age after collapsing of the USSR. A total of 605 participants from various government agencies were asked to complete a survey in which JSQ and OCQ were used to testify whether generational attributes of employees play a significant part. The results revealed Generation X values security and co-workers the most, whereas Generation Y values independence and supervision. Generation X, on the other hand, is dissatisfied with activity, power, and pay, while Generation Y is dissatisfied with a lack of creativity, variety and achievement. It was hypothesized that extrinsic, intrinsic satisfaction had stronger positive relationships with each commitment component for Generation X than Generation Y employees. Results partially supported the hypotheses. A substantial difference was discovered among the two generations of workers, with extrinsic job satisfaction found to be positively associated with commitment among Generation X and intrinsic job satisfaction strongly encouraging commitment among Generation Y.