Are You Sick Enough? Investigating Presenteeism in Working Millennials

Presenteeism has negative consequences for both the individual and the employer, such as increased levels of stress and poorer psychological health. It can be found across countries and in various professions. Millennials will soon comprise the majority of the global workforce, however, this costly phenomenon is poorly understood in this population. The predictors and the reasoning behind opting for presenteeism in working millennials (n=192) were investigated in this study. Self-reports were used to measure presenteeism, neuroticism, optimism, and job satisfaction. Relationships between the variables were explored using partial correlations and hierarchical regression. The moderation pathway was examined using PROCESS macro. The results showed that job satisfaction was able to predict presenteeism regardless of the employee's age, level of education, and general health. Neuroticism and optimism shared significant negative associations with presenteeism but were unable to predict it...Show morePresenteeism has negative consequences for both the individual and the employer, such as increased levels of stress and poorer psychological health. It can be found across countries and in various professions. Millennials will soon comprise the majority of the global workforce, however, this costly phenomenon is poorly understood in this population. The predictors and the reasoning behind opting for presenteeism in working millennials (n=192) were investigated in this study. Self-reports were used to measure presenteeism, neuroticism, optimism, and job satisfaction. Relationships between the variables were explored using partial correlations and hierarchical regression. The moderation pathway was examined using PROCESS macro. The results showed that job satisfaction was able to predict presenteeism regardless of the employee's age, level of education, and general health. Neuroticism and optimism shared significant negative associations with presenteeism but were unable to predict it. Optimism was also not found to moderate the relationship between job satisfaction and presenteeism. A qualitative exploration suggested that the most likely reason millennials opt for working while sick is not feeling sick enough or feeling able to work despite their illness. The findings of this study suggest that being satisfied with one’s job plays a more significant role in presenteeism, while personality characteristics such as optimism and neuroticism might not. Predictors of presenteeism should be further investigated in the millennial workforce. Finally, suitable interventions should be explored in order to decrease the negative effects of presenteeism.Show less

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Are You Sick Enough? Investigating Presenteeism in Working Millennials