Money talks or Millennials walk: the effect of compensation on nonprofit Millennial workers sector-switching intentions

Johnson, Jasmine McGinnis;Ng, Eddy S.

Abstract

The nonprofit sector has become increasingly reliant on paid professional staff and now faces competition from the private and public sectors, which often pay higher to attract and retain workers. Although Millennials are attracted to nonprofit work, there are concerns that they will not remain committed to the nonprofit workforce due to low pay. We analyzed data from the 2011 Young Nonprofit Professionals Network Survey to examine the relationship between pay, perceptions of equitable pay, and sector-switching intentions among Millennial nonprofit workers. Although two thirds of the respondents indicate sector-switching intentions, we found no evidence that Millennial nonprofit workers, who are purported to value extrinsic and materialistic rewards, expressed sector-switching intentions on account of pay. However, pay influences the sector-switching intentions of Millennial nonprofit managers and those with advanced education. Our results suggest that the nonprofit sector may be facing challenges in attracting and retaining Millennial managers because of low pay.

Journal

Review of Public Personnel Administration

Publication Name

N/A

Volume

ISBN/ISSN

1552-759X

Edition

N/A

Issue

Pages Count

Location

N/A

Publisher

Sage

Publisher Url

N/A

Publisher Location

N/A

Publish Date

N/A

Url

N/A

Date

N/A

EISSN

N/A

DOI

10.1177/0734371X15587980