Exploring the COVID-19 Impact and Process of Value Change Towards Work and Leisure Among Millennials: "What Would I Rather Have: A Topped-Up RRSP or Stories of a Month Doing My Dive Master?"
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted norms and routines such as employment status, office space, and access to recreational services and programming. Values are defined as a broad set of goals that influence behaviours, perceptions, and attitudes. Value change is thought to occur in the wake of significant lifestyle disruption, such as marriage, parenthood, or the COVID-19 pandemic. Research on value change is limited. Millennials (1981 – 1996) currently make up 33.2% of the Canadian workforce. Therefore, significant change in values could hold wider ramifications on the domains of work and leisure. This research asked two questions: (1) In what way are Millennial males expressing their new values towards work and leisure? And (2) What did the process of value change look like in young male Millennials? This research is guided by a grounded theory approach, using intensive interview techniques to gather rich, experience-driven data from seven young (1989 – 1996) millennial males living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Data was analysed through an initial then axial coding process. A theory on the process of change was determined through the coding process and revealed that participants navigated through five stages: lifestyle disruption occurred to physical and psychological space. Participants became aware of their dissatisfaction, through career choice, routines, and usage of leisure time. Participants took action to address areas of dissatisfaction through career change and implementing boundaries. Participants then proceeded with a maintenance period of tinkering and increasing flexibility to seek the highest form of value-expressive behaviour. Lastly, participants sought validation from self and from others. Keywords: COVID-19, Work, Values, Millennials, Grounded Theory
COVID-19, Work, Values, Millennials, Grounded Theory
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