Changing times for the labour market

The labour market is changing and according to The Economist it’s likely that the people who are in for the biggest shock are the so called “Millennials”, “Generation Y” or “the Net Generation” by social researchers. “Net Geners” are, roughly, people (like a lot of tutor2u blog readers) born in the 1980s and 1990s. Those old enough to have passed from school and university into work are used to a world in which jobs were plentiful and firms fall over one another to recruit them. Now their prospects are grimmer. Industries such as finance, technology and retail, which employ lots of young people, look likely to axe thousands of jobs.

According to one corporate recruiter, this changed mood is clearest in job interview situations. The tone (of interview candidates) has changed from ‘What can you do for me?’ to ‘Here’s what I can do for you’. The last 10 or 15 years have been a golden time for bright youngsters in the labour market and firms – especially in the States – have gone out of their way to make their HR practises attractive to this group.

According to the article, Net Geners are finding it harder to hop to new jobs. At the same time, their dissatisfaction is growing as crisis-hit firms adopt more of a command-and-control approach to management—the opposite of the open, collaborative style that young workers prefer.

The flipside of this is that Net Geners are the kind of employees that companies need to help them deal with the recession’s hazards. For one thing, they are accomplished at juggling many tasks at once. For another, they are often eager to move to new roles or countries at the drop of a hat—which older workers with families and other commitments may find harder to do. Such flexibility can be an advantage in difficult times. Net Geners’ knowledge of internet technology can also help companies save money.