Millennials, i.e. the young and middle-aged generation (those born in the 80s) prefer intellectual work to manual work, would like to gain professional experience abroad and consider cooler to work in a startup, rather than in a large company. Not only that: they are convinced that the real strength in the company is skills and training and they value growth and career opportunities more than salary. And they are not very different from previous generations in terms of aspirations: they continue to dream of a permanent job and wish to work in realities that have a corporate welfare policy able to help them raise a family.
This is the snapshot of Millennials' job expectations that emerges from the recent 2018 survey by theGeneration Z Observatory, Millennials, work and corporate welfare, sponsored by Edenred e Orienta on a sample of over 5 young people. We are talking about the digital generation characterized by high levels of schooling, with significant digital skills, availability for mobility, a marked sense of autonomy and an informal, meritocratic and low-hierarchical idea of work.
According to the data that emerged, the vast majority of those interviewed, 88,92% of the sample indicated a strong preference for working as an employee; only 11,08% indicated self-employment, furthermore 83% of the sample believes school and university training are crucial for their future in the world of work. To the question: "Do you prefer intellectual or manual work?" 66,50% expressed a preference for the intellectual one, while the remaining 33,50% for the manual one. 77,01% are willing to have work experience abroad and for 69% the size of the company is indifferent to their work preferences, but over 74% would be happy to be able to work in a start-up. To the question "Do you think your professional skills or human skills (such as an open and brilliant character) and character are more important for the company?" 57,63% indicated professional skills e only the remaining 42,37% are human ones, the so-called soft skills.
“A central aspect, touched on in the research, to strengthen the employability of young people are the so-called soft skills – he explains Giuseppe Biazzo, AD Orienta -. We are talking about human skills of a substantially character type, which concern the right mentality that one should have to successfully enter the world of work and be able to grow in professional and career terms. It is good to know that the choice of personnel directors with respect to an application depends above all on these human skills. A large number of young people are aware of this but it is necessary to spread this awareness more widely”.
“Many companies have changed their work organisation, business model and, in some cases, their own corporate culture to face the new challenges of the market – he explains Luca Palermo, CEO of Edenred Italy– these changes have a common denominator: the creation of a work environment that promotes well-being and productivity. In this sense, corporate welfare plays an increasingly decisive role and, as research has shown, the new generations are fully aware of this."
The identikit of the ideal company. For an overwhelming majority of the sample, i.e. 81,50%, the ideal company is one that enhances the potential of its employees, making them grow in a meritocratic context. The value of merit is in absolute first place. Consistent with the first data, career prospects follow, at 75,05%. Only later did the "good salary" indicated by 58,01% of the sample.
The aspects related to benefits, welfare and work organization come immediately after. For 32,39% of the interviewees the ideal company is one that provides a series of benefits, in addition to monetary remuneration, such as: computer, mobile phone, shopping vouchers, training courses, agreements with shops and gyms, health insurance, travel, and so on. With the same percentage, 32,16%, there are those who have indicated a preference for the company that offers the possibility of autonomously managing the time and place of work. On the other hand, work environments are of little importance (contrary to what one might have thought) which: allow free access to social networks during working hours, indicated by 1,01%, which are informal and with leisure spaces ( 1%) and that are not very hierarchical, indicated by 9,94% of the sample.
Youth and corporate welfare. The value that young people attribute to corporate welfare is very interesting and little investigated to date. For 83,52% the ideal company must have specific welfare plans for young employees. To the question: “It is important for a company that provides welfare services that facilitate the creation of a family for young people, such as; babysitter payment, nursery reimbursement, medical information services on pregnancy, additional leave for paternity and maternity, specific spending bonuses, agreements with childcare shops, and so on?” 95% of the sample answered that it is very important. This belief is also confirmed by the data emerging from other research on young people (that of the Toniolo Institute, for example) which show how insecurity and economic difficulties are the main impediments to starting a family.
