Job Values in Today's Workforce: A Comparison of Public and Private Sector Employees

Abstract

Unlike workers in the ′70s and ′80s who valued interesting work above everything else, the results of this study suggest today's workers place the highest value on good wages and job security. A comparison of public and private sector workers revealed private sector workers place the highest value on good wages, while public sector workers valued interesting work the most. No significant difference was found between public and private sector employees in the importance placed on job security. These results suggest employers need to keep in touch with current employee values in order to design jobs, reward systems, and human resource policies that will result in maximum job satisfaction and productivity. These results also suggest that reward systems may not be equally effective in both the public and private sectors.