1 Structured Abstract PurposeThis paper examines Generation Y, potential graduate entrants to UK retailing, in respect of their job experiences, career perceptions and initial employment expectations. Design, methodology, approachUtilising qualitative research methods, an exploratory study was undertaken with 33 students (all of whom fell into the category of Generation Y) from two UK universities. FindingsThe study found that many of the propositions contained within the Generation Y literature were reflected among participants in relation to their future career and lifestyle aspirations. This points to the need for retailers to carefully manage graduate expectations and experiences to ensure commitment to the sector. Research Limitations/implicationsBeing an exploratory study, the results are not genralisable to the wider population. The findings frame a future longitudinal study on the retail careers of Generation Y graduates as they move from the anticipation to the encounter stage of their career development. This will seek to further explore the implications of Generation Y values, including those relating to diversity and equality which were not raised as an issue in this preliminary study. Originality/ValueThe findings of this research contribute to our knowledge of the career aspirations of Generation Y. It indicates to retailers some of the future recruitment and HR practices they might adopt to meet the needs of this generation of employees.

No abstract

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

This article is founded on Broadbridge, Maxwell and Ogden's (2006a) work on the job experiences and career expectations of Generation Y undergraduates who are soon to embark on their full time careers. The industrial context under examination is the UK hospitality industry where research on management careers has been called for (Lakin and Riley, 1996). In addition, Generation Y's distinctive characteristics (Amar, 2004) and the changing structures of careers (Baruch, 2004) underline the relevance of this research. The key inference from the primary work covered in the article is that the hospitality industry needs to understand and respond to the characteristics of Generation Ys so as to enable them to develop their management careers in a way that is attractive to them.

Emerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services. Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation.