Volunteer Work Experience: Can It Help Millennials to Find Meaning and Interest in their Work and to Negotiate their Role Within the Workplace?

Abstract

Surveys show Millennials initially satisfied with their new jobs but also that they leave on average within the first 3 years. The contention of this paper is that Millennials fail to find meaning and interest in their work and to successfully navigate their workplace; volunteer work experience can change this. Findings show volunteer work experience significantly enhances Millennial job satisfaction. Based upon this, separate analyses compare volunteer Millennial with non-volunteer Millennial job satisfaction. Findings show significantly different reactions of volunteer and non-volunteer Millennials to pay, establishment size, unions, co-workers support; no differences with respect to extreme hours worked and irregular schedules.