Generation Y and the Workplace Annual Report 2010 - Haworth

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A rising and powerful future workforce of the 21st century:
For the first time ever, in workplaces around the world,
we understand that four generations are working together.
Known as Generation Y (aged 15-29), they are the current
entrants into global workforce and estimated at:
1.7 billion worldwide,
representing 25.5% of the world population
Global WorkPlace Innovation
Who are these young upstarts?
The newest and youngest members of work
forces all over the world are making their
presence felt, causing many businesses to rethink
their working practices.
Baby Boomers, the post-world war II generation
associated with social change, are beginning to
retire in large numbers, taking their knowledge
and experience with them. There are not enough
of the new generation to replace this deficit, so
their knowledge and skills are in demand.
There is another major reason why the generation
Y is grabbing attention. Many commentators are
claiming that Generation Y, as these young people
are often called, are setting off a new wave of
social and business transformation.
For the purpose of this study, we decided to study
the Generation Y aged between eighteen and
twenty-five, although some people include those
born from 1980 onwards, putting the upper limit
at twenty-eight. In our view, there are at least six
reasons why we need to understand them and
how they relate to work. They are a remarkable
generation, and here is why...
Copyright © 2010, Johnson Controls. Confidential. All Rights Reserved.
Intellectual Property Johnson Controls, Haworth and iDEA.
The demographic data indicate that there
are not enough of them coming in to the
workforce.
They are transformational – they have grown in
a different world to their parents – surrounded
by modern technologies and a society of
consumerism.
They do things differently – modern
educational curricula have brought a wave of
transformation in their life.
They are challenging – this is the most
commonly agreed threat about this generation,
but yet it has not been proved.
They are techno-savvy – the 20th and 21st
centuries have brought and will continue to
bring the most terrifying and transformational
technological solutions to our world.
They are agile – multi-taskers – their agility
to do different things at the same time is well
known, but it does not mean it makes them
more efficient in the way they work.
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