Y: Portrait of a Generation
One is hearing about them more and more. Despite this, most of us are unable to really describe who they are. The experts predict that they will turn our habits, values and the way we think about work upside down, as did the baby boomers before them. But who are they really? Portrait of a new generation.
They have been referred to as generation Y, the Millenium generation, the hip-hop generation or the Echo Boomers. More simply, they are the children of the baby boomers, or, for the younger ones, the children of generation X. Born between 1979 and 1994 (not everyone agrees on these dates), they number almost 6 million in Canada and represent the most significant population increase since the baby boom.
The special environment in which these children grew up has also coloured their values and attitudes. Raised in blended or single-parent families in 75% of cases, they are not willing to sacrifice their personal lives for their careers like their parents. Instead, their choices are guided by the search for a work-life balance. This doesn’t mean they’re in a hurry to get married, settle down and have kids—far from it! It’s quite the contrary; they stay with their parents as long as possible, study, travel, shop, go out and groove to a techno beat. Less thrifty than their parents (three-quarters of young people come from double-income families), they also have more money in their pockets. It is estimated that they will spend more than ten billion dollars in their lifetime. In short, generation Y craves experiences. It wants to touch and try everything. According to one study, 58% of young people between 15 and 30 believe that “in life, you have to try everything, with no restrictions, to make your own experiences.” Therefore, for them, common-law unions, ménage à deux or à trois, same-sex or multiracial couples are all equally valid. Open to ethnic diversity, they are ethnically diverse themselves. How can they be otherwise when one out of every three people in their generation is not Caucasian?
As for technology, generation Y youths know all the ins and outs while their parents are still struggling to master Windows 98. And although their computer knowledge impresses many people, it is the quite natural result of growing up surrounded by computers, surfing the Net and other virtual networks, chatting, yakking into their cell phones, downloading music and zapping from one specialty channel to another. Result: the virtual world is their apple, and they are quite demanding in this respect—only state-of-the-art software and the fastest computers are good enough. Speed is also this generation’s mantra: fast food, ready-to-eat meals, high-speed communication, speed of access to information, etc. The long and short of it is that generation Ys live in the moment. When they want something, it’s right away. And it’s the same thing in the work place—they want to climb the ladder quickly. This desire is at the heart of one of the paradoxes of generation Y: their parallel wish to progress quickly, while maintaining a work-family balance. They expect their bosses to be understanding and sensitive to their work conditions and want their personal needs to be taken into account. Generation Y wants tailor-made work conditions: flextime, continuing education, sabbatical leave, family leave, on-site daycare, freedom, and, above all, independence. To ask for so much has never yet been seen.
These young people, who are today students or newcomers to the job market, are our future colleagues and executives. Although very different from generation X, they are also the most highly educated generation to ever hit the market, which is good news. They are also excellent team players and seek authenticity.
This new generation is gradually coming onto the job market. “Think of them as this quiet little group about to change everything,” says Edward Winter of the U30 Group, a consulting firm specializing in marketing to people under 30. You’ve been warned, now prepare for CHANGE!