Abstract:

Youth unemployment and turnover of their first job have prompted pervasive nationwide concern in Korea. As more focus has been paid to the employment of youth, the government and schools have instituted various support policies to boost employment. Youth also struggle for getting a desired job through the various activities. Nevertheless, Korea National Statistical Office reported that 62.2% of youth who succeeded in getting a job have experienced turnover in their early career life. The main reasons to quit their first jobs are dissatisfaction with working conditions, mismatch between company’s vision and aptitude. To repeat unemployment not only reduces individual lifetime earnings but also hinders personal career development. This finding indicates that employment support policies should consider youth’s individual job value.

However, most studies related with youth employment have centered on employment rate, wages, and job satisfaction affected by personal and external contextual factors have been examined but few have focused on understanding youths' desire for job. The purpose of this study is thus to identify the effect of intrinsic and extrinsic job value on first job satisfaction and retention of college graduates in Korea. Specific research questions discussed to achieve the aims of the study are as follows:
1. Do intrinsic job value and extrinsic job value have effects on first job satisfaction of college graduates in Korea?
2. Does first job satisfaction have effects on first job retention of college graduates in Korea?
3. Does first job satisfaction mediate between job value(intrinsic and extrinsic) and first job retention of college graduates in Korea?

To conduct the this study, The Graduates Occupational Mobility Survey (GOMS, 2016) is used. GOMS is the largest short-term panel survey of a representative sample of Korean youth. It was conducted by Korea Employment Information Service(KEIS) and sponsored by Ministry of Labor in Korea. The GOMS provides extensive information on youths’ labor market behavior and educational experience. In the GOMS(2016), 1,402 college graduates are analyzed for this study with SPSS and AMOS.

The major findings of this are as follows. First, Intrinsic job value had significant effects on first job satisfaction. But, extrinsic job value had no significant effect on first job satisfaction. Second, first job satisfaction had significant effects on first job retention. Third, first job satisfaction mediates between intrinsic job value and first job retention. But, first job satisfaction does not mediate between extrinsic job value and first job retention. On the other words, intrinsic job value had indirect effect on first job retention through first job satisfaction.

The results of the study suggest the following implications. First, youth need to check the differences between their own intrinsic job value and organization culture, vision and core values before working for the organization. Second, colleges need to develop step-by-step systems in employment support programs to build the job value and also, psychological coaching and counseling which navigate the type of organization suitable for students are recommended. Third, organization should include job value in the recruitment assessment to measure the occupational adaptation.

Keywords:

Job Value, First Job Satisfaction, Job Retention, College graduates.