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Employees who experience job dissatisfaction are leaving current jobs for positions that they perceive offer better opportunities (McGlynn et al., 2012). A mid-2009 job satisfaction survey of 150,000 nursing workers by the Corporate Executive Board discovered that the number of unsatisfied workers increased (McGlynn et al., 2012). According to McGlynn et al. (2012), participants in the study answered questions about specific behavior relating to their jobs. Their survey revealed that Gen-X workers are 2.5 times more likely to be looking for new opportunities than previous generational cohorts (McGlynn et al., 2012). Job stability and benefits have changed in the workforce. Many employees do not receive the benefits they did in the past, affecting Baby Boomer and Gen-X employees and influencing job satisfaction (McGlynn et al., 2012). Each generational group undergoes influence from the events that occur during its lifetime, forging individual values that are characteristic of each cluster (Ravenscraft, 2018; Alqahtani,2019).
Because of their different ways of viewing the world, the dynamics between Baby Boomers and Gen-Xers can be volatile, leading to workplace friction, tension, and dissatisfaction (Ravenscraft, 2018). Limited research studies have shown that Baby Boomer and Gen-X RNs have different work perceptions, as the next examples show, which can create conflicts and misunderstandings (Ravenscraft, 2018; Alqahtani, 2019). For instance, Gen-X cohorts are more likely to look for new opportunities than Baby Boomers, while the Gen-X cohort searches for new opportunities in benefits and wages. Gen-X diversity demands that benefits and salaries change to meet each generational cohort's needs (Ravenscraft, 2018). Gen-X cohorts are more likely to look for other job opportunities when their employment place does not satisfy them, whereas Baby Boomers are not (Ravenscraft, 2018).
Studies show that a useful measure of nurses’ loyalty to the organization and job satisfaction is whether nurses intend to stay in or leave their current job (Ravenscraft, 2018). According to Ravenscraft (2018), nurses experience less satisfaction with their workplace when staffing interferes with their ability to meet patients' needs. Gen-X nurse cohorts with high levels of positive job satisfaction report that they are more likely to remain at their current healthcare organizations (Ravenscraft, 2018). An aging workforce provides the need to improve the understanding of the Gen-X distinctions supporting a productive workplace (Ravenscraft, 2018; Alqahtani, 2019). Ongoing studies can connect generational cohorts and increase the understanding of job satisfaction in the workplace (Ravenscraft, 2018; Alqahtani, 2019).
Differences between generations of employees in a healthcare organization can negatively affect the team (Ravenscraft, 2018; Alqahtani, 2019). Examinations of each generational cohort's professional and work-setting relationships will help determine assumptions and miscommunications based on generational differences (Ravenscraft, 2018; Alqahtani, 2019). A lack of communication and unfavorable organizational culture can cause friction between the generations and not meet each generation's desire for different rewards (Ravenscraft, 2018; Alqahtani, 2019). Addressing potential misunderstandings between generational cohorts can produce a guide for future studies of job satisfaction and generational groups (Ravenscraft, 2018; Alqahtani, 2019).