Gen Y 2.0 Celebrating our First Globals Renée Downey Hart, PhD Professor of Practice Le Moyne College
Oh, these kids today! “These children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for their elders and love chatter in the place of exercise… They contradict their parents and tyrannize their teachers.”
Oh, these kids today! “These children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for their elders and love chatter in the place of exercise… They contradict their parents and tyrannize their teachers.”
“…the latter-day cult of individualism; the worship of the brazen calf of the Self."
August 23, 1976
“… There they are, those preening narcissists who have to document every banal moment with their cutting-edge communications technology.”
“They crave entertainment, but their attention span is as short as one zap of a TV dial… They postpone marriage because they dread divorce."
Hamlet had a Blackberry? Remember thee? Ay, thou poor ghost, While memory holds a seat In this distracted globe….
So let’s talk Context
We worked 10 hours more per week on average in 2014 than in 2000 Why? “Back in the day” WORK HOME LEISURE
Today WORK HOME LEISURE WORK HOME LEISURE WORK HOME LEISURE WORK HOME LEISURE WORK HOME LEISURE WORK HOME LEISURE WORK HOME LEISURE WORK HOME LEISURE WORK HOME LEISURE WORK HOME LEISURE WORK HOME LEISURE WORK HOME LEISURE WORK
Redefining…. Friends Work Privacy Accessibility Fun Self?
Task vs. Time
Continuous Partial Attention Skimming the surface of the incoming data Picking out the relevant details Moving on to the next stream. You cast a wider net But are you really studying the fish?
More facts 1 in 4 workers in American organizations have been employed less than one year
Did you know… 1 in 8 couples married last year met on the internet?
15,000 messages…
4.1 Billion Text Messages In US every day
A Closer Look….
How it plays out
First Global Facts 80 Million born between 1976 – 2001 In 2016, 35% of the workforce IS Gen Y! By %! Most diverse -- 59% white (72% for previous generations)
Why are they First Globals? 72% would like to work abroad 37% plan to!
And move over, Gen Y!
Some statistics: 361,000 born each day By 2020, Gen Z will account for 40% of all consumers! 42% are very influenced by their parents (Millenials were 36%) They spend 7.6 hours a day socializing with friends and family
Economically They average $16.90 per week in allowance ($44 billion a year!) They influence $600 billion of family spending 72% want to own their own businesses 76% percent hope their hobbies can turn into jobs
The mobile-first generation Prefer social networks like Snapchat and Instagram – and are leaving Facebook… Five screens: –Smartphone –TV –Laptop –Desktop –Tablet 79% display symptoms of distress when kept away from mobile devices
Farewell to the isms! Racism, sexism, anti- Semitism, ageism… Bi-racial fastest growing population -1.5% decrease in Caucasian population by % increase in Hispanic population Blurring gender roles Often live in multi- generational households
So what do we KNOW about “these kids”? They are the most SOCIAL
They are the most IDEALISTIC So what do we KNOW about “these kids”?
They are the most ENTREPRENEURIAL
What do they want? Opportunities for career progression 52% Opportunities for personal development 64% T&D most valued benefit: 22%
What attracts them? 1. Training and the potential for career advancement 2. Challenge 3. Meaningful work! 4. Work – Life balance 5. Technology 6. International job opportunities or training
How do we keep them? (because 43% are extremely confident they could find another job) 80% want feedback in real time Structured assignments with constant feedback Opportunities to learn Collaboration opportunities
Tech savvy Family centric Achievement oriented Team oriented Attention craving : feedback and guidance We celebrate them!
“We use to live on farms, then we lived in the cities. Now we live on the internet.” Sean Parker – The Social Network