Individual determinants of job satisfaction among young adults in Poland

Young adults, who were born in Poland after the beginning of the systemic transformation process in the late 1980s, have experienced radical changes in their living conditions including the labor market opportunities compared with their parent’s generation [Sawulski, 2019]. Regardless of the increase in living standards in Poland and the economic convergence with the European Union [Piątkowski, 2020], young Poles are characterized by worse financial conditions (wages and incomes) than in the EU-27 on average. The monthly median equivalized disposable income of young adults in Poland (aged 18–24 years) was 652 EUR, constituting only 46% of the EU-27 average in 2021 [Eurostat, 2022]. Moreover, most young adults (<34 years) in Poland live with their parents, deciding to start running their own households late [Eurostat, 2022]. In Poland, there are only 3.5% of households with the age of reference person below 30 years (2 pp. lower than in EU-27; Eurostat, 2022). Youth in Poland more often than on average in the EU-27 continue education and are not employed at the age of 25–29 years [Eurostat, 2022]. What is more the young adults in Poland perceive their wage level as relatively low [Kutwa, 2022]. In all, 81% of young adults between 18 years and 29 years declare that their financial situation worsened last year and they are not able to save [Santander Consumer Bank, 2023]. These implications may make young adults from Poland struggle to manage their finances [Musiał and Świecka, 2016] and focus more on the financial standards of their jobs as an important condition to achieve higher job satisfaction [Deloitte, 2022]. Although there is a vast literature regarding job satisfaction determinants, with age as one of them, most of them consider the relationships between age and overall life satisfaction in the perspective of the whole life-cycle [Clark and Oswald, 1994; Blanchflower and Oswald, 2008]. However, given the greater homogeneity of the youth than the whole adult group, Piper [2014] underlined that focusing on young adults helps to understand the relationships between satisfaction and age better. Additionally, there is a lack of job-satisfaction analysis from the perspective of young adults in the post-transition economies, except in the study of Szulc-Obłoza et al. [2023], who conducted the comparative study between the determinants of young adults’ job satisfaction in Poland and Czech Republic.

This study aims to identify and compare the overall job-satisfaction determinants among young adults in Poland. We consider the factors in two dimensions, i.e., economic and socio-demographic. In the group of economic determinants, not only individual income is taken into analysis but also disposable household income per person, wage satisfaction, and wealth are considered. In the group of socio-demographic determinants, we consider education level, education profile, place of residence, and form of professional activity. The identification is based on the ordered logit model. The model was built upon the data collected in 2021 in a survey using the CAWI technique on a sample of 304 respondents in Poland.

In this study, we aim to answer the following research questions:

RQ1: Are economic conditions more important than socio-demographic ones for young adults in Poland to be satisfied with their job?

RQ2: What kind of economic factors matter most for young adults to achieve greater job satisfaction?

RQ3: What kind of socio-demographic factors matter most for young adults to achieve greater job satisfaction?

The novelty of the study is threefold. First, the results allowed to indicate important economic determinants of young adults’ job satisfaction in Poland. Considering different kinds of incomes, namely individual income and disposable income per person in the household, we were able to identify if young adults earning individual income or being a member of a relatively affluent family and having high disposable income per person in the household is more important to achieve higher job satisfaction. Such an approach is particularly important when young adults’ job satisfaction is analyzed, given that in this period of life, they start their own family, have a first job, and enter into the labor market for the first time. Second, we incorporated social factors into the study, such as among other regions in Poland, educational determinants, levels of education (primary, secondary, vocational, high), and kind of education (economic, medical, etc.). Third, the results allowed to identify the set of individual factors that facilitate job satisfaction, based on which practical implications that help to create favorable conditions for young adults entering the labor market in Poland were formulated. As a result, a better understanding of the set of determinants that increase job satisfaction among the young generations can help in the implementation of the appropriate incentives adjusted to young generations in organizations.

The remainder of the article is as follows: Section 2 discusses the literature concerning job satisfaction from the perspective of age-dependent differences as well as the results of the papers considering economic and socio-demographic determinants of job satisfaction. The data and methods of analysis are described in Section 3. The results of the empirical analysis are presented in Section 4. Section 5 offers the discussion and concluding remarks.

Job satisfaction is an attitude that manifests a subjective evaluation judgment of the job by a worker [Weiss, 2002; Spector, 2022]. The individual evaluation judgment of the job as a subjective variable shows that the same job may be satisfactory for one person and, simultaneously, can be viewed as not satisfying by another [Haywood, 2016].

Age, gender, education level, field of education, sector of professional activity, and income are examples of socio-demographic and economic characteristics of people used in the analysis of job satisfaction [Campbell, 2011; Clark, 2015]. Generally, there is no consensus about a significant association between these individual characteristics of workers and their job satisfaction.

Some studies have examined the relationship between age and job satisfaction. Clark et al. [1996] identified a significant and U-shaped relationship between age and job satisfaction, indicating that young and older workers are more satisfied than those belonging to the middle-age group. Other authors confirmed this relation in the literature [Hochwarter et al., 2001; Gazioglu and Tansel, 2006]. On the contrary, others highlight a linear relationship between age and job satisfaction [Bernal et al., 1998]. For example, Thu et al. [2022] identified that older people (35–44 years and ≥45 years) are more satisfied than the younger (18–24 years and 25–34 years).

Also, there is no consensus if and how gender affects job satisfaction. Some authors pointed out that women are less satisfied [Sabharwal and Corley, 2009], and others highlighted that they are more satisfied [Zou, 2015; Redmond and McGuinness, 2019] or that there is no significant difference [Thu et al., 2022].

When it comes to the effect of education on job satisfaction, researchers confirm a negative association between these two elements [Clark et al., 1996; Redmond and McGuinness, 2019], and highlight that, it is consistent with the idea that education is associated with higher expectations [Federici et al., 2023]. However, contrasting conclusions have been drawn about the positive relationship between education level and job satisfaction [Stritesky, 2021]. Additionally, the connection between education and potential benefits like increased pay and job prestige has been emphasized [Kaplan et al., 2020].

Basically, income is seen as a significant element included in the evaluation of the job. Some research studies prove that higher income increases job satisfaction [Springer, 2011; Redmond and McGuinness, 2019; Stritesky, 2021]. In turn, the idea of relative income is highlighted according to which income is not an absolute characteristic but is evaluated relative to some comparison levels, for example, to others or oneself in the past [Clark et al., 1996]. Moreover, that comparison can be made on the individual or household level [Gambacorta and Iannario, 2013]. It is highlighted as the negative dependence between the income reference group and job satisfaction [Clark et al., 1996; Ferrer-i-Carbonell, 2005].

In this article, job satisfaction of young adults is analyzed. Although job satisfaction is commonly analyzed in the literature, the association between young adults’ socio-demographic and economic characteristics and job satisfaction is rare. An example of a sparse analysis of job satisfaction among young people is research conducted by Mora et al. [2007]. Researchers analyzed young European higher education graduates using the “Careers after Higher Education – A European Research Survey.” According to the findings, men generally achieved higher job satisfaction but were happier if women had comparable jobs to men. Additionally, the authors identified that people working in the public sector are more satisfied. Education experience increases job satisfaction, and engineering, mathematics, and computer science graduates are more satisfied. In turn, salary is a key factor in high job satisfaction [Mora et al., 2007]. In the literature, there is no consensus about the relationships between gender and job satisfaction of young adults, just like in general association, without regarding particular age groups. Miric and Petrovic [2013], analyzing job satisfaction among young professionals in Serbia, pointed out that women are more dissatisfied. In contrast, Narayanan and Syed Zafar [2011] stated that young women and men working in the software sector in India present the same level of job satisfaction. In turn, Semmer et al. [2005] analyzing young adults entering the workforce in Switzerland identified that women are more satisfied with their work than men.

In the context of the education field, also in line with Mora et al. [2007], Vila et al. [2007] proved that the area of study influences job satisfaction. However, they pointed out that graduates from economics education and computer sciences background are more satisfied. On the other hand, in the literature, there is consensus about overeducation and job satisfaction in young people. Ueno and Krause [2018] used ordinal logistic regression models to predict the work satisfaction of young adults between 24 years and 34 years in overeducation in the United States. Researchers supported the idea that overeducated workers have lower satisfaction than adequately educated workers because they have more doubts about their progress toward career goals [Ueno and Krause, 2018]. This also aligns with findings about young Spanish employees [Ayala et al., 2017]. McKay et al. [2018] analyzed young workers aged 15–29 years in Eastern and South Africa using the ordered probit model. Results indicate that overqualification corresponds to a low level of job satisfaction, and additionally, self-employed and unpaid family workers are more satisfied [McKay et al., 2018].

Based on these literature review, we conducted an in-depth analysis of young adults’ job satisfaction determinants by covering the following factors: wealth, income, wage satisfaction, gender, education level, education profile, professional activity, and place of living.

Based on the collected data ordered, the logit model was estimated. The dependent variable of the model results directly from the responses to job satisfaction: yi={ 12345

Independent characteristics influencing job satisfaction are recoded into binary variables: –

characteristics describing the detailed parameters of satisfaction measured on a Likert scale (1–5),

The logit model results are presented in Table 2, which shows the estimated odds ratios and the respective p-values for the significance test.

Job satisfaction was considered from two perspectives, i.e., economic and socio-demographic. When the economic group of determinants of job satisfaction is considered, in most cases, the increase in the variables (i.e., higher levels of wage satisfaction, individual income, and wealth) increases the probability of job satisfaction, what allows to answer RQ1. The result indicates that improvement in the material conditions positively affects job satisfaction. The result that particularly wage satisfaction increases the probability of job satisfaction to the highest extent allowed to answer RQ2. When respondents agreed that they were satisfied with the wage (level 5), the probability of higher job satisfaction was 30 times higher compared with the wage satisfaction at wage satisfaction level 1. Similarly, when individual income increased, the chance for higher job satisfaction increased from two times (NET_INC_218-436_EURO) to seven times (NET_INC_871 + EURO) in comparison to the lowest individual income level. Having assets of more than 10,893 EURO (WEALTH_10893-21787_EURO) increased the chance for higher job satisfaction by 95%. It means that financial security given by the value of possessed assets increases young adults’ job satisfaction. Surprisingly, the relatively high disposable income per person in the household (levels 4 and 5) decreased the chance for higher job satisfaction. Such a result may suggest that young adults who share their income with other members of a family have higher expectations that are more difficult to fulfill and have a lower probability of being satisfied with the job. Such a situation may be observed when young adults start their financially independent life, enter into the labor market, and start a family, which makes them responsible for, i.e., child support.

Among the group of socio-demographic variables, mainly educational variables determined the probability of being satisfied with a job. This result allowed to answer RQ3. Vocational, secondary, and high education increased the probability of job satisfaction among young adults. However, the higher the level of education, the increase of the probability of higher job satisfaction is lower. Also, when the education profile was considered, economic education increased the chance of higher job satisfaction by 71%. Still, education in human sciences decreased the chance for higher job satisfaction by 64% compared with medical and technical education profiles. Interestingly, the chance for higher job satisfaction for young women is lower than for men by 41%. Moreover, considering Polish regions, namely, living in Podlaskie Voivodship decreased the chance for higher job satisfaction by 80%. Such results align with the spatial comparison of Poland’s living and labor market conditions, revealing the relative backwardness of the Podlaskie Voivodship [Malina, 2020]. Regarding the kind of professional activity, being employed in a public institution increases the probability of job satisfaction among young adults in Poland, which reveals the need for stability and security in the first job.

The conducted analysis allowed to answer all the research questions in this study. First, the logit model results showed that financial conditions enhance job satisfaction to a greater extent than socio-demographic ones (RQ1).

Regarding the RQ2, a crucial factor in increasing job satisfaction is wage satisfaction. In this sense, the study revealed that for young adults in Poland, the financial results of a job are fundamental to achieving higher job satisfaction. The result of a positive relationship between the financial standards of young adults and their job satisfaction is in line with the findings of Redmond and McGuinness [2019], Springer [2011], and Stritesky [2021]. However, we examined the relationships by considering different material dimensions, namely the individual incomes of the respondents and the disposable income per person in the household. The identified exemption was in regard to the disposable income per person in the household, with an increase of which, the chance of high job satisfaction decreased. Such a result revealed the need for differentiation between dimensions of income (individual or household level) in job-satisfaction studies mentioned by Gambacorta and Iannario [2013].

Among the socio-demographic determinants of job satisfaction among young adults in Poland, educational variables played the most important role (RQ3). Moreover, the economic profile of higher education and higher education per se increased job satisfaction among young adults in Poland similar to the results of Vila et al. [2007], Redmond and McGuiness [2019], and Springer [2011] in the latter case. Additionally, male gender increased job satisfaction, which is an interesting result in line with Mora et al. [2007], Sabharwal and Corley [2009] but contrary to Mirić and Petrovic [2013], Redmond and McGuinness [2019], and Zou [2015].

The logit model in research contains socio-demographic and economic factors. However, the limitation of this method is that it includes the set of fixed variables. We can distinguish many various specifications of the model. Future research would include a more complete picture of the variables in these two groups as well as a broader sample size. However, this requires the inclusion of additional questions at the stage of construction of the questionnaire and modification of sample selection.

The job-satisfaction analysis from young adults’ perspective enables the formulation of practical implications for increasing job satisfaction for employers and employees in Poland. First, given that job satisfaction may increase not only overall life satisfaction but also the effectiveness of the work process, it is recommended to motivate young adults by improving material conditions of work (increasing wages or other forms of material motivation, i.e., cash bonuses) to increase their job satisfaction. Moreover, creating safe employment conditions may seem important from the perspective of the preference of working in public employment. Second, it is worth including the individual differences of young workers in job-satisfaction analysis. Considering the group’s diversity in future research can enable the proposal of an adequate incentive policy in the organizations and also an accurate labor market policy.