Blogging, Facebook, work/life balance – OMG! sounds like Generation Y...

You’ve probably heard the term Generation Y bandied around at work or seen it littered across magazine articles, but maybe weren’t sure who it referred to. Is it you? And if not, what do you need to know about this ubiquitous new social group?

The term Generation Y first appeared in the early 1990s and was used to describe people born between 1985–1995. Since then, the scope of the term has changed greatly to include anyone born as early as 1976 and as late as 2000. But roughly, if you’re born 1980 onwards – you’re Generation Y.

According to sociologists, whereas their Generation X work colleagues (those born in the late 60’s/early 70’s) tend to have a cynical, perhaps even slightly pessimistic outlook, Gen Y are all about self-fulfillment and see life as brimming with possibilities. And they’re not afraid to ask for what they want when it comes to the workplace.

Generation Y want five main things from employers: flexible working hours, constant mutual feedback, a level of autonomy, help with life development and a corporate social-responsibility strategy. Gen Y have to evaluate a company’s performance too – they have a much more equal relationship with employers than previous generations.

Crucially, they see a career as something they own rather than something the company owns. They want lots of opportunities and tend to think shorter term – the average career horizon for a Generation Y’er is two years, rather than 10 or 15. And they are blurring their work and personal life into one big grey blob!

There was a time when the employee had to justify the privilege of working for the company. Now, when dealing with Gen Y, the company has to justify why talented people should stay with it. In the war for talent, however, everyone is going after the same people – which is why businesses with the biggest vision are opening up to a wider range of potential employees.

Generation Y will remain in education longer, travel further, have access to more information than any other generation and be extremely aware of technology. They want to constantly learn new skills, be challenged intellectually and professionally and continually achieve. Channeling this creativity and energy as well gaining an understanding of what Gen Y can bring to any organisation is essential in today's marketplace.