Generation Z Employment Values: Identifying Key Research Areas

Abstract

Research purpose. The entry and retention of Generation Z in the labour market has sparked a broad discussion on the shifting paradigm of motivation, posing an essential challenge for contemporary human resource management. Although the literature provides many empirical studies, there is still a lack of a synthetic view of the conceptual constructs around which researchers' attention is focused. The aim of this research is to identify the dominant employment values of Generation Z regarding well-being and career development through a quantitative corpus text analysis of scientific research papers.

Design / Methodology / Approach. The research employs a distant-reading method, deploying key concept frequency, link, and trend analyses. The corpus, consisting of 33 scientific papers (294,074 lexical tokens), was created following the PRISMA protocol. The selection included papers from Scopus, Web of Science, and ScienceDirect published between 2016 and 2026. The inclusion criteria encompassed concepts relevant to Generation Z and employment values (including work aspirations, intentions, and career development) within titles, keywords, and abstracts. The analysis was conducted using the Voyant Tools platform.

Findings. Results of the frequency and lexical link analyses reveal that the dominant value for Generation Z is maintaining a work-life balance, which emerged as the primary thematic node in the analysed discourse. Career development and well-being were identified as essential but secondary values, while financial components formed the least dominant category. Within the area of well-being, a high density of terms related to mental health protection and the avoidance of toxic or stressful environments was identified, indicating a priority for psychological safety. Career development values primarily focused on autonomy, flexibility, and intrinsic motivation.

Originality / Value / Practical implications. The originality of this study lies in applying a quantitative text-mining approach to identify a ranking of employment value components for Generation Z. This method provides an objective synthesis of the current research landscape, moving beyond traditional qualitative reviews. Practical implications include providing HR managers with evidence-based guidelines for designing talent attraction strategies that prioritise psychological safety and flexibility, addressing the identified information gap in human resource management.