Attitudes to Work of Generation Y Students in Hospitality Management: a comparative analysis of students in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland

At the entry level we often hear,"We can teach people skills; but we cannot teach them the right attitudes. "Employee attitudes are an indicative factor as to whether an organization will succeed in the future. In the workplace then, attitudes towards work and the job at hand are of obvious importance. However, the literature has placed greater emphasis on job satisfaction and related issues, where attitudes are the outcome of work. It could be argued that attitudes to work, before entering a job, are perhaps more important, as they are antecedents and precursors to workplace performance and job satisfaction. This study addresses this gap by studying the attitudes to work of college students in Hospitality Management across the United Kingdom (UK) by conducting a survey of students in England, Scotland and Nothern Ireland. Students currently in college are predominantly from "Generation Y" (GEN Y), born between 1975 and 1995. As GEN Y members enter the work force in large numbers, it is imperative that employers gain deeper insights into their mindset. Work attitude is recognized as a multi-dimensional construct. The study found GEN Y students in UK to be largely positive in their attitudes to work and to exhibit relatively low levels of cynicism about work and promotion. Furthermore, the study found that with increasing age and work experience, students positive work attitude was enhanced, while their negative attitudes were ameliorated