Does the effect of person-environment fit on work attitudes vary with generations? Insights from the tourism industry

There is an intrinsic link between the success of service firms and the availability of high-quality human resources, making employee attitudes and behaviors a critical concern for service organizations. This paper examines the role of generational differences in the relationship between person-environment fit, job satisfaction and work engagement in the tourism industry. The study was based on a group of 981 tourism employees in 15 localities in Poland. Data were collected through self-administered paper-based questionnaires. The hypothesized relationships were tested using a hierarchical regression analysis. This research revealed that Generation Y employees experienced lower job satisfaction, lower work engagement, and a lower degree of needs being met in the workplace than did their predecessors. It was also found that person-group fit was a stronger predictor of work attitudes for Millennials. The paper contributes to the ongoing debate on generational diversity in the workplace and its implication for human resources management. Specifically, in the service context, it adds a generational perspective of the person-environment fit influence on work-related attitudes.