Investigating Work Engagement of Highly Educated Young Employees through Applying the Job Demands-Resources Model

This study aims to investigate the applicability of the job demands and resources (JD-R) model. While prior studies tend to focus on older employees, we investigate the potentially effective job resources and demands specifically for the highly educated young individuals that are the future of any organization. We collected primary cross-sectional data from 155 respondents in Indonesia with master’s or doctoral degrees, under 40 years of age, currently working in public and private sectors. Participants completed an online questionnaire by following a link distributed by email. PLS-SEM was used to analyze data regarding the relationships between job resources (perceived organizational support (POS) and employee voice), job demands (emotional demands), and work engagement. Our results indicated the relationships for POS positively and emotional demands negatively with work engagement, while employee voice was not significantly correlated with work engagement. Emotional demands are considered to be perceived as stress rather than opportunity. Furthermore, emotional demands did not moderate the correlation of POS and employee voice with work engagement. A multi-group analysis found no significant differences between employees in the private and public sectors. The results showed the JD-R model was partially applicable. This study is one of few seeking to apply the JD-R model to highly educated young employees in the private and public sectors. The specific results of this study will provide insight for the organizations employing such individuals.