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 potentiallyeffective job resources and demands specifically for the highly educated young individualsthat are the future of any organization. We collected primary cross-sectional data from ۱۵۵respondents in Indonesia with master’s or doctoral degrees, under ۴۰ years of age, currentlyworking in public and private sectors. Participants completed an online questionnaire byfollowing a link distributed by email. PLS-SEM was used to analyze data regarding therelationships between job resources (perceived organizational support (POS) and employeevoice), job demands (emotional demands), and work engagement. Our results indicated therelationships for POS positively and emotional demands negatively with work engagement,while employee voice was not significantly correlated with work engagement. Emotionaldemands are considered to be perceived as stress rather than opportunity. Furthermore,emotional demands did not moderate the correlation of POS and employee voice with workengagement. A multi-group analysis found no significant differences between employees inthe 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 employeesin the private and public sectors. The specific results of this study will provide insight for theorganizations employing such individuals.