Article: Decoding Millennials: Work & Beyond

Culture

Decoding Millennials: Work & Beyond

Two different surveys reveal different facets of how millennials work and live
Decoding Millennials: Work & Beyond

A lot has been said, written and speculated about the generation that is set to become the largest section of the workforce in the coming years. From the biggest global corporations to struggling start-ups, everyone has made it a point to ensure that they are millennial-friendly, and in the process harboured their own understanding of how to deal with millennials in the best manner. Adding to the saturated debate are two new studies, which affirm, confirm and out rightly reject some assumptions that are often talked about in the same breath, with the word millennial.

How millennials live, work and play: The Indian Connect

A recent Times report says that CBRE Group, the global real estate consulting firm, conducted The Millennial Survey. The survey, conducted among 13 nations, assumes importance because in a rare instance, information about Indian millennials is exhaustively visible in the findings. Unsurprisingly, 82% of the millennials in India live with their parents, and a further 25% have no intentions of moving out, as opposed to 23% of those who plan to move out in the next two to five years. Indian millennials, along with the Chinese, were also bullish on buying their own property in the near future, but the sentiment varied for both. While Indian millennials view property as an investment (35%), the Chinese look at it for stability (69%). 

Contrary to the image of the quintessential job-hopping millennial, 68% of the millennials in Asia-Pacific want to work for the same firm or smaller number of organisations during the course of their career. Additionally, salary remains the biggest concern for all millennials worldwide, when considering joining a new job. Interestingly, Indian millennials are ‘equally concerned’ about company reputation (72%) and learning opportunities (72%), whereas 68% of the Chinese and Hong Kong millennials take into consideration HR policies, leaves, benefits etc.

Expectedly, for 50-55% of the millennials in India, the eating area/cafeteria is a point of major concern, in contrast to 50-60% of the Chinese and Hong Kong millennials who prefer the sleeping/resting are and 40% of the Australian millennials who look at wellness/relaxation facilities. 24% of Indian millennials are saving up for the future as opposed to 31% in China, 34% in Honk Kong, 22% in Japan, and 23% in Australia. And lastly, Indian millennials spend most of their free time in shopping online (17%), followed by high street shopping (12%) and eating out with friends/family (11%).

Why Millennials Quit: Top reasons

A Forbes report delves into a few questions that have got employers most worried about millennials. Borrowing from the Gallup poll which claims that 60% of the millennials would consider quitting if they don’t feel engaged at work, the report reiterates the fact that understanding the context under which millennials are joining the workforce today is likely to help organisations. The poll illustrates that 71% of the millennials want a job with a sense of purpose and meaning, and work better if they know what their company goals are, and what their work stands for. Additionally, a considerably high 87% said that growth and development opportunities are essential to them, and 68% of those who had been provided the same in the last year plan to stay for at least one more year. Last but not the least, 93% admitted to quitting their jobs when they needed a change of role, instead of approaching their manager to ask for the same. 

Different and varied reports point to the seemingly myriad factors that need to be considered for seamlessly assimilating and engaging millennials in workplaces, but the simple fact is millennials aren’t all unpredictable and random as they are assumed to be. Take it from a millennial – we want similar, or sometimes the exact same thing, as our preceding generations, namely, job security, approachable managers and mentors, fair compensation, work-life balance, a bigger vision and purpose to our work, and opportunities to grow. Yet, our priority of the said factors need not be in the same alignment with the others, including workers from our own generation. Increasing scrutiny and surveillance to understand millennials better is likely to serve similar disconnected pieces of information, with minimal context to them. Hence, it is important for employers to realise that managing and engaging with their workforce based on carefully-calculated statistics will always be second to personalised, humane and inter-personal interventions, and they must strive for the latter. 

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Topics: Culture, Life @ Work

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