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We Facebook. We iPhone. (not me I’m not such an IT savvy person) We are the kids who grew up watching the Smurfs and Thundercats (thunder… thunder… thunder… thundercat…) on TV, and were the first to use the internet to expand our social networks.(ICQ??? MSN?? Skype??? Gtalk??) And in many organisations, we are challenging the conventional views of work. Meet your newest generation of workers, known as the millennials. More commonly referred to as Gen Y, my fellow generation is broadly defined as those born in and around 1980, immediately after Gen X.
In Malaysia, approximately 36% of the labour force is aged 29 and under - that’s about 3.9 million millennials. My generation has more graduates than any other, and organisations are now presented with the opportunity to create a powerful knowledge-based workforce. In January 2009, a team of us at P Malaysia set out to survey our peers – who make up over 60% of the company’s workforce – in an effort to pinpoint our cohort’s motivations and expectations of work and careers. Ultimately, we wanted our findings to provide insight into the future of work to 2020. The resulting ‘Malaysia’s Gen Y unplugged’ research is the Malaysian perspective of the global P report, ‘Millennials at work - perspectives from a new generation’.
We know what’s keeping you awake at night
A recent global P survey of 1,100 CEOs and business leaders revealed that they are struggling to balance talent retention and cost reduction against a backdrop of economic deceleration. The numbers are interesting – 97% of CEOs believe that the access to and retention of key talent is critical or important to sustaining their growth, yet one in four CEOs globally are looking to reduce headcount this year. Over 60% of CEOs say they have challenges recruiting and integrating their millennial employees, and less than a third believe that they have a comprehensive understanding of their employees’ views and needs.
With many organisations’ long-term people strategy being tested, businesses must consider the complete picture to avoid blindly squeezing costs without appreciating the full impact. CEOs need to take into account all workforce segments, the money invested in employees and the skills needed to compete in order to avoid cutting too deeply.
That said, the economic downturn may well prove to be a blessing in disguise when it comes to the millennials. When we asked about career management strategies, 45% of our peers indicated that they would work harder to demonstrate their skill level. To us, it is even more important now to stand out in the crowd.
Millennials are smart and eager and best of all, we are affordable. Therefore, with short-term pressures greater than ever, the successful organisation will be the one which is able to get the most out of this new generation of workers.
(source: a big accounting firm's website)
In Malaysia, approximately 36% of the labour force is aged 29 and under - that’s about 3.9 million millennials. My generation has more graduates than any other, and organisations are now presented with the opportunity to create a powerful knowledge-based workforce. In January 2009, a team of us at P Malaysia set out to survey our peers – who make up over 60% of the company’s workforce – in an effort to pinpoint our cohort’s motivations and expectations of work and careers. Ultimately, we wanted our findings to provide insight into the future of work to 2020. The resulting ‘Malaysia’s Gen Y unplugged’ research is the Malaysian perspective of the global P report, ‘Millennials at work - perspectives from a new generation’.
We know what’s keeping you awake at night
A recent global P survey of 1,100 CEOs and business leaders revealed that they are struggling to balance talent retention and cost reduction against a backdrop of economic deceleration. The numbers are interesting – 97% of CEOs believe that the access to and retention of key talent is critical or important to sustaining their growth, yet one in four CEOs globally are looking to reduce headcount this year. Over 60% of CEOs say they have challenges recruiting and integrating their millennial employees, and less than a third believe that they have a comprehensive understanding of their employees’ views and needs.
With many organisations’ long-term people strategy being tested, businesses must consider the complete picture to avoid blindly squeezing costs without appreciating the full impact. CEOs need to take into account all workforce segments, the money invested in employees and the skills needed to compete in order to avoid cutting too deeply.
That said, the economic downturn may well prove to be a blessing in disguise when it comes to the millennials. When we asked about career management strategies, 45% of our peers indicated that they would work harder to demonstrate their skill level. To us, it is even more important now to stand out in the crowd.
Millennials are smart and eager and best of all, we are affordable. Therefore, with short-term pressures greater than ever, the successful organisation will be the one which is able to get the most out of this new generation of workers.
(source: a big accounting firm's website)
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