The contribution of work values to early career mobility

In the past quarter century, young people have started their careers in a labor market logic emphasizing individualized resources and with expectations and risks of uncertainty and unpredictability. We focus on one core individual resource, work values, and assess its contribution to early career trajectory dynamics among a cohort of Millennials between the ages of 18–35 and years 2005 through 2019. Using eight waves of the Transition to Adulthood Supplement of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we consider how extrinsic and intrinsic work values predict both cumulative occupational and employer changes as well as observed annual earnings and occupational prestige trajectories. Extrinsic work values are highly predictive of employment change and destination. However, results vary significantly by educational attainment and sex, as extrinsic work values are associated with contrasting outcomes depending on whether respondents have a college degree, while the bulk of benefits of returns to work values are found for men. The current paper sheds light on the critical dynamics of early career mobility processes.