India will be one of the youngest countries in the world by 2020 where the average age will only be 29 years. There will be 63.5 million new entrants to the working age population (between 15 and 59 years) between 2011 and 2016 where a majority of the increase will be between the 20-35 age group. These statistics are revealed by the Economic Survey 2011-12 and the Human Development Report (HDR) published by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). While the rising demographic dividend in India offers huge opportunities, it also poses myriad challenges for organisations and the economy as a whole.

Organisations operating in India should be aware of the challenges associated with the Gen Next workforce who will comprise a significant majority of the workforce in the coming years. There are three major challenges that organisations at this point need to be aware about:

1. Integrating personal aspirations of the Gen Next workforce with the organisational vision
2. Retention and leadership development
3. Identifications and modifications to existing people processes and practices

As opposed to prevalent “one-size-fits-all” practices and policies existent in today’s organisations, generational characteristics and their consequent influence will be noticeable in the future workforce. The future workplace will require separate and tailored policies for Gen Next, given that their expectations and employment preferences are radically different from other generations. The CII-Deloitte, “Gen Next Workforce study 2013” is an investigation into the aspirations, values, and expectations of the Gen Next workforce. The study was conducted in the organised sector in some of the major Tier 1 and Tier 2 employer locations across India. The purpose of the investigation was to understand the characteristics of the various pools of talent and the steps that policy makers need to undertake to nurture and grow these pools for influencing positive outcomes for the economy.

The research surfaced some striking revelations about the choices and preferences of Gen Next talent and also some common myths about them. For example, the belief that Gen Next values work life balance and employment type over everything else is not true. While these are important, other drivers such as rewards and career growth are on the top of the list of employment preferences for Gen Next. Interestingly, the study has revealed a significant divergence in the perception of rewards and remuneration of Gen Next and other generations. Gen Next reward preferences have moved away from Long Term incentives toward more Fixed Pay, therefore showing their preference to not stay with one workplace for a long period of time.