Career Expectations of Entry Level Gen Z Professionals in Sri Lanka: Insights through the Job Characteristic Model

Despite Gen Z’s growing workforce presence, limited research has examined their entry-level career expectations in Sri Lanka. This qualitative study addresses this gap by exploring how Gen Z professionals prioritize career-related expectations. Semi-structured interviews with ten participants were analyzed thematically, identifying ten key expectations clustered into job-centric, workplace-centric, and person-centric categories. The findings highlight distinctive Gen Z traits, including a strong preference for intrinsic rewards such as recognition and appreciation, and a higher propensity for job switching in pursuit of better opportunities. Traditional expectations, including job stability, supportive work environments, flexible work arrangements, and skill development, also emerged as important. Overall, the study offers insights into the early-career outlook of Gen Z professionals in Sri Lanka, with practical implications for human resource  practitioners in talent management and for Gen Z job seekers in making informed career decisions aligned with personal growth, and long-term satisfaction.