Employee satisfaction from a generational and gender perspective in the Puerto Rico lodging industry: An exploratory study

Abstract

Through this study, the author examined the perceived job satisfaction among hotel-line employees in Puerto Rico to determine whether differences or similarities exist by generational cohorts and gender. This exploratory study was performed as literature lacks sound empirical research on the impact of generational differences in job satisfaction in the lodging industry. The investigation was performed by administering the job satisfaction survey designed by Spector (1995) to employees working in small, mid and large size hotels in Puerto Rico. Statistical techniques, including MANOVA and ANOVA, were used to determine the level of significance of the dependent variables that explains job satisfaction and the independent variables generations and gender. The results of this study found no significant differences among the perceived satisfaction when examined by gender. However, significant differences were found with the dependent variable coworkers among generation X and Y. No significant differences were found in this study among the perceived job satisfaction factors and overall satisfaction of hotel employees based on generational cohort and gender. This research contributes to literature by evidencing the first time different hotels in Puerto Rico open its doors to establish a point of reference on employees' job satisfaction that will serve to compare individual hotel performances against the industry's job satisfaction. Additionally, these results increases empirical evidence in generational cohorts' perceived job satisfaction contributing to the growth of the literature available regarding the disparity of popular information available.