Decoding Gen Z Workforce Attrition: A Quantitative Study on Workplace Expectations, Values & Retention Strategies

This paper analyses how motivation, psychological variables, and workplace expectations influence early-stage retention and turnover intentions. It explores Generation Z (Gen Z) workforce attrition. It goes beyond descriptive discussions of generational differences and creates a systematic analytical framework that connects personal expectations about flexibility, recognition, learning opportunities, and mental health support with individual psychological traits like optimism, emotional coping styles, and confidence in career outlook. The study also assesses the workplace environment's mediating function in converting these characteristics into attrition or retention results.

This research investigates the key drivers of Generation Z workforce attrition by empirically examining how factors like motivation, psychological traits, personal and workplace expectations can be deployed to design retention strategies. It goes beyond the descriptive discussions of generational differences and develops an analytical framework that links individual psychological traits such as optimism, emotional coping mechanisms, and confidence in career outlook with personal expectations like flexibility, recognitions, learning opportunities, and mental health support. It further delves into the mediating role of the workplace environment in translating these factors into either retention or attrition intentions.