Gen Y is growing up. The oldest of the generation are now 26. They're beginning to take to the workplace. As a result, a plethora of articles has turned up in business magazines worldwide, suggesting creative ways for employers to deal with this new, seemingly odd, generation. This article looks at who they are and why they matter.
This young generation is the first native online population. This alone has set the tone for how they act, react, and see the world. They are vastly different from their parent's generation.
Gen Y Statistics
Generation Y is much smaller than Generation X, or those born between 1961 to 1981. There are 78 million Gen Yers in the world. They make up about 25 percent of the US population. In some countries (ex. Iran), this percentage is much higher.
Ninety percent of Gen Yers in the US own a PC, while 82 percent own a mobile. And, perhaps not surprisingly, they spend more time online than they do watching TV.
Characteristics of Generation Y
It is a generation of strong-willed, passionate, and optimistic youth. They have great expectations and are known for expecting (and demanding) to get what they want. In some cultures, like China, the one-child policy has resulted in a generation of only-children, which has vastly contributed to their their oft-cited lack of sharing and compromising abilities.
They have grown up engaging with the Internet. This had led to their expectation of being able to obtain information at exceedingly rapid speeds.
Gen Y is also known for caring about the world and its problems, forming a large part of the worldwide Green movement.
Having been born into more culturally-diverse environments than previous generations, Generation Y tends to be more tolerant of differences than their parents' and grandparents' generations.
Fun Facts about Gen Y
They are a generation of many names. Also known as "Echo Boomers" (for their being the echo of the Baby Boomers), the "Millennials", the "Net Generation" (for obvious reasons), the "Dot-com" generation, "Trophy kids", and, very appropriately, "Generation Y Not".
The average Gen Y changes jobs an average of 29 times and the average time in one job is 1.1 years.
Why Generation Y Matters in International Affairs
Generation Y is the newest voting population. Until recently, they have not been known for being particularly active in current affairs (US youth engagement with the Obama campaign altered this perception slightly). Indeed, there has been widespread fear that they are disengaging from politics, instead tending to focus on their own immediate surroundings, while blocking out seemingly distant problems.
The colossal World Values Survey shows that only one-third of young people across Europe are interested in politics, and three-quarters said they did not think politics was important for their lives. Only a minority of young people were shown to have actually engaged in politics - 28 percent had signed a petition, 22 percent had attended a demonstration, and nine percent had joined boycotts. Only six percent belonged either to a political party, a trade union, an environmental organization, or a professional association.
This is a worrying trend. More must be done to engage young people, particularly those "stubborn" Gen Yers in society (see this article on youth and politics for more info). It is only through understanding the behaviour and attitudes of this generation that we can begin to see just how this can be done.
