Subjective Work Perception : Multivariate Analysis of Generational Differences

The paper attempts to verify the hypothesis of the existence of generational differences in the perception of the conditions and quality of work. Research issues considered in this paper are chosen due to the regularities observed in labor markets indicating that a special attention should be paid to two age groups: the youngest and older persons. The highest unemployment rate in the EU is observed among young people who meet various barriers at the beginning of their professional career. On the other hand the group of older people is expected to provide an important contribution to the labor force to face the problem of the aging societies. The objective labor market indicators should be confronted with the results of the subjective opinions of the labor market participants in order to have a comprehensive outlook on the situation. Chosen multivariate methods are applied to analyze the opinions of both young and older Europeans in relation to socio-demographic factors and taking into consideration the spatial diversity. Opinions about current work given by European Social Survey respondents are analyzed. Among others, the variety of current work, possibilities of learning new things at work, effort-salary relation, and support received from other workers, etc. The paper presents some results obtained from applications of chosen multivariate methods whose usefulness is determined by the measurement scales of the regarded variables