Impact of Social Websites Testimonials on the Career Choices of Post-Millennials and Millennials in the IT Industry: A Comparative Analysis

This article seeks to understand how social website testimonials have been impacting the career choices of post-millennials and millennials and comparison between the two generations have been done to suggest improvements to organizations to help attract and retain the said talent. This research shall help determine whether social websites testimonials and its usage has been having a significant impact on career choices of post-millennials and millennials with focus on post-millennial talent. It shall add to the existing body of knowledge. The current hiring strategies, policies, and processes had been designed to attract millennials. With the entry of post-millennials, a need to redefine them has been felt now. This research aims to ascertain the impact being made on their career choices and would help organizations in redefining their hiring strategy, processes, and systems.


INTRodUCTIoN
The commercial landscape following the epidemic is highly volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA).Organizations are required to quickly and continuously adapt to the changes (Schoemaker et al., 2018).Organizations are compelled to innovate swiftly in this VUCA environment in order to address problems like the recent COVID outbreak and create successful business solutions (da Silva et al., 2022).Companies battle for market share and are quickly converting to new technologies.(Ghi et al., 2022).Modern technologies like data science, analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence are driving business transformation with the aid of human expertise.As business globally transforms quickly, fuelled by the newest technologies, there is a great churn of human intellect (Lu, 2017).Human capital is important to ensure client success and asset for the organization (Fareri et al., 2020).Organizations prefer hiring young and readily deployable talent who are skilled and help transformation work efficiently (Zheng, 2022).
Companies are constantly under pressure to find the right talent at the appropriate moment.Companies employ talent at various levels.Around 70% of the opportunities for future skills are at the entry level, and 30% are at the senior level, according to the NASCOM 2020 report (NASSCOM, 2020).As a result, post-millennials (Gen Z) are hired for the majority of entry-level roles today, while millennials (Gen Y) are hired at higher positions.Those who were born between 1980 and 1994 are referred to as Millennials or Gen Y.People in the post-millennial generation were born between 1996 and 2012.Post-Millennial is the most recent generation to enter the labour market; they are also known as Gen Z (Berkup, 2014).

oBJECTIVE oF THE STUdy
Organizations focused largely on hiring the millennials over the last decade.Post-Millennials have now started graduating and joining the workforce.In order to entice post-millennial talent to join the businesses, managers feel a need to understand them (Schroth, 2019).The present hiring strategies and processes are designed with focus on millennials.They need to be redefined with focus on postmillennials (Burton et al., 2019).It is difficult to hire young talent who is continuously engaged on social websites, exchanging testimonials about companies which emerge on social websites (Sun et al., 2021).It is necessary to conduct research into how testimonials on social websites affect the career choices of the post-millennials and millennials (Prakash Yadav & Rai, 2017).The goal of this study is to conduct a comparative investigation of the influence of social websites testimonials on post-millennials and millennials' career choices.The results of this research will assist determine whether or not, the opinions people post on social websites have an impact on their employment choices.Post-Millennial talent, who will eventually drive company success, will be attracted by these firms' redefining their hiring strategy and processes.

RESEARCH GAP
Post pandemic, many new business opportunities emerged world-wide and a big talent crunch is being felt by organizations.Organizations are now hiring in big numbers post pandemic.However, the dropout rate of candidates has increased which is causing a threat to the business and uncertainty globally.Unfavourable comments about the companies on social websites, are one of the stated reasons for not onboarding (Bizzi, 2018).Little research is known addressing the influence of testimonials on social websites on the career choices of the post-millennials and millennials for employer's reference.This Empirical research will help add to the body of knowledge.Due to technological advancements, social websites are available at fingertips on mobile phone.This allows post-millennials and millennials to freely share their testimonials about organizations.Employees use technology to openly comment or post testimonials about the organizations on the social websites (Karasek & Hysa, 2020).They are seen to comment on various organization matters such as organization policies, strategy, processes, systems, best practices, unfair practices, things which they like or dislike or which need improvements.These testimonials are accessible to all on social websites such as Glassdoor, Twitter, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Facebook etc.One of the problems faced by corporates is the dropout rates of candidates after accepting the offer (Gaan & Shin, 2022).There is a big uncertainty as they accept offers from multiple organizations but fail to join and change jobs for career growth (Naresh & Rathnam, 2015).This is posing a practical issue for managers.So, employers feel a need to understand how testimonials on social websites affect the post-millennials and millennials career selections (Prawitasari, 2018).The young talent prefer virtual employment process made possible by websites like LinkedIn, Google Hangouts, Glass Door (Sidorcuka & Chesnovicka, 2017).Limited research is available about how Post Millennial's and Millennial's use of Social Websites affects their employment choices.This gap is being bridged by the current investigation.A research revealed that perceptions influence the job pursuing behaviour, preference for an organization and intent to pursue an opportunity amongst millennials (Cho et al., 2013).This research was limited to only millennials.While the authors' research enables them to compare post-millennials and millennials at the same time.The use of social websites by post-millennials in comparison to millennial is the main topic of discussion.This study will assist in determining whether social website's usage and testimonials have a substantial impact on post-millennials and millennials career choices.Limited research is available on the impact of testimonials of organisations that appear on social websites on the career choices of post-millennials and millennials collectively.An attempt is being made through this empirical research to address this gap.

RESEARCH PHILoSoPHy
A pragmatic research approach has been adopted to determine whether company testimonials on social websites have an impact on the selection of job decisions of the post-millennial and millennial workforce (Powell, 2020).Empirical data collected through survey has been analysed to establish if their career choices by organisation testimonials appearing on social websites in a pragmatic research paradigm.

RESEARCH THEoRy
Social websites are widely accepted and used as a medium of communication.As mentioned in the literature, the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Usage of Technology is used in this study (Venkatesh et al., 2003).The theory clarifies users' initial intentions and subsequent actions when using an information system.Technology-savvy members of post-millennials and millennials use services like LinkedIn, WhatsApp, and Facebook to share knowledge and build their own brands.The goal of this study is to better understand how this talent uses social websites to make professional decisions.They use the idea of personal branding to create their online presence in order to position themselves as potential candidates for a job market (Vitelar, 2013).The findings from this research are critical and will enable the HR managers to revamp the recruitment strategy and HR processes by making them aware about the post millennial's affinity for social websites while making career choices (Barhate & Dirani, 2022).

LITERATURE REVIEW
Post-Millennial and Social Websites: The attitudes, beliefs, and expectations of many generations have been affected by their social, cultural, and economic backgrounds.According to research, postmillennials and older generations differ significantly when it comes to the elements that shape their business ethics and beliefs (Klopotan et al., 2020).Post-Millennials are technologically advanced and use internet platforms for communication.They prefer to work independently and are optimistic about the future.(Gaidhani et al., 2019).Their social and professional life are impacted by the technology's ongoing evolution.(Roblek et al., 2019).Scant information is available about post-millennials.In order to find and retain post-millennial talent, organisations feel the need to proactively redefine talent acquisition practises.(Csiszárik-Kocsír & Garia-Fodor, 2018).According to research done in the US and UK, post-millennial's frequent use of social websites for communication had an impact on their private lives and their surroundings and more clarity is needed to observe if their behaviours changed as they proceeded through different periods in life (Prakash Yadav & Rai, 2017).Post-Millennials favour online hiring initiatives conducted using sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.(Sidorcuka & Chesnovicka, 2017).The quick emergence of social and digital technology during their formative years has had a significant impact on their way of thinking and living, which organisations need to understand to hire them (A.P. Singh & Dangmei, 2016).Post-Millennial are entering the workforce and are equipped with the latest skills and technologies.(Iorgulescu, 2016).They are technologically adept and well-connected with worldwide communities through social sites (A.Singh, 2014).
Millennial and Social Websites: Research conducted (Ukpabi et al., 2021) revealed that employees in younger and older age groups have different levels of acceptance of certain technological factors.Businesses may use these distinctions to plan effective social website campaigns and create branding plans that are appropriate for various generation (Vasudeva, 2023).Research on usage of social websites by millennials, revealed how it affects their lifestyles and social behaviours.(Meechunek, 2018) A research survey conducted amongst 209 millennial revealed that social websites made a significant and positive impact on millennials perceived learning and engagement (Naim & Lenka, 2017).Research conducted to understand millennial's usage of social websites highlighted that they primarily used it for communication or participation.Change in social norms and behaviours at society level may be led by use of social websites by millennials (Bolton et al., 2013).
Post Millennial, Millennial and Social Websites: Fast developments in the business environment and technology are affecting organisational policies and processes, as well as the thought processes and career choices of the young workforce.To hire them a deeper understanding of them is required (Prawitasari, 2018).A significant importance is being given to this research as it deals with the current and future generations of workforce.According to research there are significant differences and many similarities simultaneously, in the behaviours of post-millennials and millennials (Bencsik et al., 2016).A study to learn more about their characteristics was undertaken (Törőcsik et al., 2014).A research revealed that a favourable association between conscientiousness and online social support was discovered on the social websites platform (Ukpabi et al., 2021).The research revealed both post-millennials and millennials are tech experts and seek and distribute information globally with great ease (Berkup, 2014).Post-Millennials and Millennials readily adapt and leverage the advanced technology for communication irrespective of which generation they belong to (Levickaite, 2010).

RESEARCH METHodoLoGy
Empirical research has been carried out by the authors by conducting an online survey amongst postmillennials and millennials working in IT organizations in India.A comparison of the impact of social websites evaluations on post-millennials and millennials' career selections has been done.The Authors have based this paper on a Quantitative Research methodology (Powell, 2020).The study's target group was post-millennial and millennial talent employed with IT organizations for more than one year and the organizations had a presence on social websites.To collect the data for this study, self-administered questionnaires were distributed to working post-millennial and millennial participants using the purposeful sampling technique.To distribute the questionnaire, the authors collaborated with Indian IT sector recruiters and HR managers.The guidelines provided to recruiters and HR managers clarified the eligibility conditions for respondents in order to ensure a varied post-millennials and millennials sample and prevent ineligible participation.A collection of detailed questions that were closely related to the four study constructs were employed in the survey instrument.With a Likert-type assessment approach, the interval scale was anchored.The scale's end points of (1) representing "strongly disagree" whereas (5) representing "strongly agree" are represented by five response categories with proper labelling.The poll was pre-tested by the authors on 15 members of post-millennials and another 15 members of millennials before the study was conducted.This was done to ensure that the vocabulary used and the clarity of the instructions and scales were appropriate.The participants would need to have worked for the IT organisations for more than one year period to get a more thorough response.This method of data collection yielded 230 replies, of which 222 were good and used for the study, with an equal number of post-millennial and millennial respondents and an almost equal number of women and men.40% of the 222 valid respondents were female, 60% were male, 52% belonged to Generation Z, and 48% to Generation Y. 8 incomplete responses were discarded.Discriminant Analysis has been conducted on the primary data collected.The researchers have employed discriminant analysis in order to predict group members.Discriminant Analysis is an alternative to logistic regression.The dependent variable is Categorical (Dichotomous).In the current study it is post-millennials and millennials and the independent variable are continuous, hence they have been measured using an interval scale.Based on prior observations of data set, data value can be predicted with the use of this method of statistical analysis.By analysing the relationship between one or more existing independent variables a dependent data variable would be predicted using a discriminant model.

dATA ANALySIS
An overview of the subject under investigation will be provided by the study, which will also assist firms in redefining their hiring strategy and HR policies to better meet the demands of the post-millennials.Discriminant analysis is a multivariate analysis technique used to predict a categorical outcome variable using a set of continuous independent variables.The outcome of a discriminant analysis is a discriminant model used to predict group membership.With the help of discriminant analysis, the authors have been able to predict dependent variable i.e., generation of the workforce which is categorical variable with 2 responses, option 1= Post-Millennial; option 2= Millennial.Independent variable, "Affinity towards social websites" is measured using below mentioned 4 measured variables: 1.You read the testimonials about businesses on social websites.
2.Testimonials about businesses on social websites are trustworthy.3.Testimonials on social websites accurately reflect the company and its activities.4.You determine joining a company based on testimonials on social websites.

HyPoTHESIS
Ho= affinity towards social websites testimonials cannot discriminate between post-millennials and millennials H1= affinity towards social websites testimonials can discriminate between post-millennials and millennials Level of significance: α = 0.05

MEAN ANd STANdARd dEVIATIoN
Standard Deviation values show that when we consider the four measured variables namely: 1= You read the testimonials about businesses on social websites 2= Testimonials about businesses on social websites are trustworthy 3= Testimonials on social websites accurately reflect the company and its activities 4= You determine joining a company based on testimonials on social websites From Table 1, the mean value analysis shows that when we consider the four measured variables, compared to millennials, post-millennials have a higher propensity to be influenced by testimonials about businesses on social websites.Standard deviation values have been used to illustrate that post-millennials tend to have a stronger affinity for testimonials on social websites than millennials.
Wilks Lambda: is a metric for unexplained variation in statistics.When the model fits the data, it denotes noise.Lower values of Wilks Lambda will ideally reflect good discriminant ability of the predictors.
From Table 2 following observations are made: For measured indicator "You read the testimonials about businesses on social websites" millennial mean is 3.74 and post-millennial mean is 4.35, F(1,219) = 50.80whereas P< 0.001.As a result, it is assumed that post-millennials read testimonials of companies on social websites more frequently than millennials.
For measured indicator "Testimonials on social websites accurately reflect the company and its activities" millennial Mean is 3.74 and post-millennial mean is 4.35, F(1,219) = 57.98 whereas P< 0.001.As a result, it is inferred that post-millennial is more likely than millennial to trust the testimonials on social websites truly reflect the business and its operations.
For measured indicator "You determine joining a company based on testimonials on social websites" millennial mean is 3.74 and post-millennial mean is 4.35, F(1,219) = 42.27whereas P< 0.001.So, it is inferred that post-millennial tends to decide whether to join a company more so than millennials based on testimonies on social websites.
For measured indicator "Testimonials about businesses on social websites are trustworthy" millennial mean is 3.74 and post-millennial mean is 4.35, F(1,219) = 66.31 whereas P< 0.001.So, it is inferred that post-millennials tend to find testimonials of companies on social websites to be more trustworthy than millennials.8 (Testimonials about businesses on social websites are trustworthy) is the strongest discriminator followed by Statement 1 (You read the testimonials about businesses on social websites), Statement 2 (Testimonials on social websites accurately reflect the company and its activities) and Statement 3 (You determine joining a company based on testimonials on social websites).
From Table 9 Functional Group Centroids are used to generate cutting scores shown in Figure 1 Cutting Scores for GenY = -0.831Cutting Scores for Post Millennial = 0.752

Sensitivity and Specificity Analysis
From Table No 10 following Sensitivity and Specificity Analysis are made: 1)80.5% of original grouped cases correctly classified.
2)Cross validation has been done only for those cases in the analysis.In cross validation, each case has been classified by the functions derived from all cases other than that case.3)78.7% of cross-validated grouped cases correctly classified.

MAJoR FINdINGS
During the study the following four measured variables were considered: 1= You read the testimonials about businesses on social websites 2= Testimonials about businesses on social websites are trustworthy 3= Testimonials on social websites accurately reflect the company and its activities 4= You determine joining a company based on testimonials on social websites.
It is clear from the statistical research that post-millennials have a larger propensity than millennials to be affected by social websites testimonials.Also, post-millennials have been found to be more receptive to social websites testimonials than millennials.As a part of this study, we also developed an equation which will help identify the workforce generation of the respondents based on their responses.This will help the managers in the organizations to customize their processes and systems and better align them to attract the respective generation workforce.

CoNTRIBUTIoNS
1.This research helps organizations and managers understand that post-millennial and millennial talent are unique and make career choices based on organization testimonials appearing on social websites.2.As a part of this study, a discriminant model has been developed for predicting group membership.
This will help identify the generation of the respondents based on their responses.The organizations can build customized solutions, processes and systems and better align them to attract the talent from respective generation workforce.3.The Authors have also suggested theoretical and practical implications and improvements which organizations and HR managers can adopt at work to attract and retain post-millennial and millennial talent.4.This research will help add to the body of knowledge in the field of generational workforce studies.

IMPLICATIoNS
Social Websites testimonials can have both theoretical and practical implications on the career choices of post-millennials and millennials.
Theoretical Implications: the impact on the career choices amongst post-millennials and millennials emphasizes the significance of testimonials on social websites and technology in making career choices.
Social Learning Theory: according to the social learning theory, people pick up new skills by watching and copying the actions of others.Social website testimonials give post-millennials and millennials a chance to learn about the perceptions and experiences of others who have followed comparable career paths.Taking informed decisions allows them to benefit from the triumphs and failures of others.
Social Identity Theory: according to the social identity theory, a person's self-identity is shaped by their affiliation with numerous social groups.Social websites give post-millennials and millennials a place to connect with people with comparable job interests and aspirations.They can develop their sense of identity and sense of belonging by communicating with people online.
Expectancy Theory: according to the expectancy theory, people make decisions depending on the results they anticipate from their activities.Social websites testimonials impact the aspirations and employment choices of post-millennials and millennials.Negative testimonials on social websites may deter people from pursuing a particular vocation, whereas positive ones will motivate them to make a career choice.
Self-Determination Theory: this theory strongly emphasizes the value of relatedness, competence, and autonomy in motivating people.Social websites testimonials can give post-millennials and millennials the knowledge to decide about their careers.They can gain confidence in their ability to make career choices by accessing various perspectives and experiences.Online communication can also promote a feeling of support and relatedness.
Cognitive Dissonance Theory: according to this theory, people feel psychological discomfort when their beliefs and actions, conflict.Social websites testimonials may impact post-millennials and millennials' job attitudes and expectations, which could lead to cognitive dissonance.They could feel uncomfortable and rethink their choice if they read unfavourable testimonials on social websites about their chosen professional path.
Social Proof: Online testimonials offer prospective post-millennials and millennials' social proof.Social proof is a psychological phenomenon where people imitate others' behaviour to exhibit appropriate behaviour in a particular circumstance.Job-seeking post-millennials and millennials are more likely to perceive an organization or job favourably and be encouraged to apply when they read positive testimonials.

Practical Implications
1.This research helps the managers to understand that post-millennials and millennials talent are unique and make career choices based on organization testimonials appearing on social websites.2.Improvements: The unique equation developed through this research will help the managers identify the category of workforce based on the responses received through surveys and take necessary improvement actions which are generation specific and introduce customised solutions.3.Work Culture: This research highlights the importance of creating a positive and conducive work culture.This will lead to positive organization testimonial on social websites and help attract talent.4.Attraction and Retention: this study emphasises how crucial digital branding is for attracting post-millennial and millennial talent.Positive testimonials on social websites may serve as free branding and increase the organization's visibility and make it more appealing to the postmillennials and millennials and attract them to join the organization.Negative testimonials may cause post-millennials and millennials to become disengaged and possibly decide to quit their jobs.5.Brand Reputation: A company's brand reputation may be impacted by negative Social Websites testimonials, while positive testimonials can strengthen a company's reputation as an employer of choice.

6.Information Accessibility & Transparency:
Job-seeking post-millennials and millennials can get information about businesses and positions more efficiently, thanks to social websites testimonials which facilitate transparency in the job market.

LIMITATIoNS
The research was conducted by considering post-millennial and millennial talent from IT industry in India only.The scope of the study can be widened further to other sectors and geography in order to generalise the findings of the study.

CoNCLUSIoN
Through results of discriminant analysis, it is evident that testimonials on social websites can influence career choices of post-millennials and millennials.Further a discriminant model has been developed to predict group membership for post-millennials and millennials based on the scores of the testimonials on social websites, when we consider the four measured variables namely: 1= You read the testimonials about businesses on social websites 2= Testimonials about businesses on social websites are trustworthy 3= Testimonials on social websites accurately reflect the company and its activities 4= You determine joining a company based on testimonials on social websites Social Websites testimonials may have a big theoretical and practical impact on post-millennials and millennials' employment choices.Organizations should monitor and rectify any issues identified in social websites testimonials to maintain a positive brand reputation.This research highlights the importance of creating a positive and conducive work culture in the organisation and the importance of digital branding, which would lead towards positive organization testimonial on social websites and further help them attract talent.As per the analysis, post-millennials have a larger propensity than millennials to be affected by testimonials on social websites.Also, post-millennials have been found to be more receptive to testimonials on social websites than millennials.

IMPRoVEMENTS
Considering the above, HR managers can consider the following improvements: 1.Redefine the hiring strategy with focus on the post-millennials and their affinity towards social websites 2.Upgrade the hiring systems to leverage virtual hiring process and social website platform considering the comfort and trust post-millennials have on social technology.3.Integrate social technology and hiring process to attract post-millennial talent 4.Leverage social websites platforms to build a positive and strong organization brand 5.Integrate social platforms at work and provide work involving social platforms to leverage the true strength and innovative minds of post-millennials.6.Create organization policies which allow free usage of social websites and communication platforms keeping the best interest of both the organization and talent in mind.7.Address the problems identified in testimonials.

Figure
Figure 1.Cutting Scores

Table 1 . Group Statistics for Millennials and Post-Millennials
Source: Author's contribution compiled from SPSS output

Test of Equality and Covariance Matrices From Table 3 it
has been observed that the Box's Test of Equality is significant when P<0.001, indicating that the Covariance Matrices of the Independent Variable differ across the two groups, post-millennials, and millennials, hence the assumption of homogeneity of variance vs covariance is violated, however discriminant analysis is robust to this violation.afterthe model is fitted to the data, the canonical correlation statistic is a way to measure how much variance is explained.Canonical Correlation squared indicates signal.Larger values of Canonical Correlation Square will show that the predictors have good discriminant ability.The table shows that the Chi-square test is significant.
Eigen Value is a ratio of Canonical Squared by Wilks Lambda.Eigen Value more >1 indicates more signal less noise.Eigen Value <1 indicates less signal more noise.Eigen Value =1 indicates equal signal equal noise.Considering the values from Table 4, 5 & 6,

Table 3 . Box's Test of Equality of Covariance Matrices
Source: Author's contribution compiled from SPSS output

Table 4 . Summary of Canonical Discriminant Functions
Source: Author's contribution compiled from SPSS output

Table 6 . Summary of Canonical Discriminant Functions
Since the Chi-square test is significant, the null hypothesis is rejected and it has been concluded that the discriminant model can successfully discriminate between post-millennials and millennials.Hence it can infer that affinity towards testimonials appearing on social websites, impacts the workforce generations.Canonical Correlations & Wilk's Lambda are measures of the strength of the model.Canonical Correlation square is an indicator of Signal (explained variance) Source: Author's contribution compiled from SPSS output

Table 7 DS = -7.399 + 0.632 (X1) + 0.517(X2) + 0.346(X3) + 0.524(X4)
X1= You read the testimonials about businesses on social websites X2= Testimonials on social websites accurately reflect the company and its activities X3= You determine joining a company based on testimonials on social websites X4= Testimonials about businesses on social websites are trustworthy Standardised Canonical Discriminant Function Coefficient's are used to compare the 4 predictors for Discriminant ability.

Table 7 . Developing the Discriminant Function
Source: Author's contribution compiled from SPSS output

Table 8 . Standardised Canonical Discriminant Function Coefficient
You read the testimonials about businesses on social websites has a coefficient of = 0.402You read the testimonials about businesses on social websites =0.369You determine joining a company based on testimonials on social websites =0.332 Testimonials about businesses on social websites are trustworthy=0.48.Hence statement 4 in above Table Source: Author's contribution compiled from SPSS output

Table 9 . Functional Group Centroids
Source: Author's contribution compiled from SPSS output

Table 10 . Classification Statistics
Milind Bhore, is a passionate and Senior HR Leader with more than two decades of Industry experience with Large MNCs in the IT and Manufacturing domain.He has Strong knowledge of HR processes, systems & interventions and contributed towards organization success by applying his HR expertise in the IT Product & Services, Manufacturing, Life Science & Pharma and Telecom domains.As a leader, he has created employment opportunities for thousands of candidates in rural areas and has been an active mentor to management and engineering graduates and enabled their careers.He is an active member of renowned HR Leadership Forums and a guest speaker at premium management and engineering institutes and takes keen interest in pursuing research in the field of Human Resources and Generational Workforce Studies.Poornima Tapas is Professor and Head of Executive MBA Programme at Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, a constituent of Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune.She is a Doctorate in Economics and teaches subjects in Economics and in the area of General management.Her research areas are diverse such as Economics, Management, Women and Health.She has authored over 50 referred papers in various journals.She is the Editor of SAMVAD, International Research Journal of SIBM, Pune.She serves as reviewer on several reputed journals.