Generation theorists define Generation Y as those youngsters born between 1980 and 2000, even if there are some variances on this range. Younger members of this generation have started, or will soon start, knocking on the doors of the labour market hoping to land the jobs of their dreams. But what is the dream world of Gen Ys?
A study by Deloitte has found that the most common features of Generation Y are that they are “success-driven, lifestyle-centred, techno-savvy, connected 24/7, diverse, goal-oriented, service-minded, environment-friendly, self-confident, optimistic, entrepreneurial, opinionated and bored by routine”. But the Financial Times labelled Y-ers as “every employer’s nightmare”, while Fortune magazine claims they are “destined to be the most high-performing in history”.
My own recent experience of working with Y-ers is that they communicate differently even from the previous Generation X youngsters. Their familiarity with technology and their relative affluence makes them prefer to use social networking websites rather than e-mail to communicate. Most of them are experts in digital multi-tasking and their communication often lacks formality. They resent hierarchies – especially those found in the more formal office setups and professions. Gen-Y members are often high achievers even if they often indulge in “plorking” – a computer-based blending of play and work.
Engaging the Y-ers in the workplace is a tough challenge for business leaders. This generation has been caught up in a particularly sticky phase in the world economy. While up to just a few years ago Y-ers were prepared to walk away from organisations that were unable or unwilling to appreciate their values and expectations, these young people are proving to be quite resilient in the current more difficult economic times. The fact that they have often been pampered by their parents has meant that they do not really know what economic hardships are. But they seem to be coping very well.
Sadly, the world that Y-ers are facing is not a rose garden. The labour market is expected to remain weak for at least the next decade, and this means fewer employment opportunities for young people, including those who are well educated. Many graduate Y-ers in the Western world, but not in Malta, already have huge debts incurred for their studies.
The labour market is expected to remain weak for at least the next decade, and this means fewer employment opportunities for young people, including those who are well educated
The less educated ones – and unfortunately we have more than our fair share of these in Malta – are going to find it increasingly difficult to find decent jobs and will get entangled in the dark world of precarious work. They can easily become another lost generation, this time not as a result of some world war, but because they lack the skills to make them employable in the modern economy.
Many sociologists are asking what Y-ers can do to help themselves. Governments need to come up with plans that include components of Keynesian economics to stimulate the economy and incent-ivise hiring of young workers. New programmes are needed that will be based on government-subsidised apprenticeships, tax incentives for hiring workers under 30, and reducing red tape to help small companies expand faster and thereby create a demand for labour.
If this does not happen, then it may become inevitable that Y-ers will become politically militant as they already are in many countries. The reaction of young people to the raising of fees for education in the UK and the cutting of government financing for education in Italy has shown that the anger of Y-ers can easily be channelled in grass-root political activism. In a worst-case scenario this activism may swell support for extremist right-wing parties, as has happened in Finland recently.
For many local Y-ers the challenges ahead are even more formidable. The educational achievement levels of many of our young people are still low and, even if statistics may improve in the next decade as a result of improving educational capacity, many are not convinced that the actual skills base of qualified young people will indeed be sufficient to open the doors of attractive employment opportunities.
If we want to make the world of Generation Y more attractive than it looks at present, we need to give more importance to quality in our educational system. Improving educational statistics is very different from building a culture of quality in the minds of all those involved in our educational system.
Another critical success factor is the need to start tackling the steep hill of national debt that is steadily becoming a mountain. Y-ers already have many mountains to climb.
jcassarwhite@yahoo.com