Study of Luxembourg workplaces shows diversity has negative impact on job satisfaction

Abstract

PurposePrevious studies examined the effects of diversity according to gender, race and age, whereas the present study focused on nationality. The authors wanted to find out the impact of workplace diversity on job satisfaction.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis relied on two data sources. The first was the 2013 survey of “Working Conditions and the Quality of Work Life” in Luxembourg. The sampling plan was based on data from Luxembourg’s social security administration. There were four variables: The first was the size of the firm (less than 15 employees, between 15 and 49, and more than 50). The second was employee status (blue collar worker, or employee). The other variables were gender and age.FindingsResults showed workplace diversity has a negative impact on job satisfaction. But the data also revealed job satisfaction increased for the minority nationalities when a certain threshold for diversity was reached. The authors said this might be because when there were enough workers “like themselves”, satisfaction grew.Originality/valueThe authors said their study would become increasingly important as globalization increased the proportion of foreign workers inside firms. They said that from a managerial perspective, it was crucial to know if national diversity was linked to employees’ attitudes.