Stepping into a Y’s shoes in 2009
Imagine what it’s like to be a Y. Born in the late1970s or early 1980s, your parents split up when you were ten, and thereafter you lived with one parent at a time—one week on, one week off. You know all about change, stability is not your thing and you have forged your own definition of loyalty via these life experiences. The only constant in your life— change.
From a very young age, you practiced two sports, were signed up for theatre and dance lessons, and weekends passed in a whirl of soccer and hockey, not to mention the hours spent playing video games and family reunions peopled with half-brothers and sisters. You are good at multitasking, open to the world and other cultures, socially aware and ecologically responsible. You want to learn in total freedom at the speed of your Internet connection, supported by Wi-Fi technology. No need to be linked to a workstation; you can work on developing yourself any time, any where.
These values are part of the baggage you brought with you to university and your first employers. The latter were already courting you in high school with the many future career possibilities available to you starting in 2009–10, the result of the looming shortage of workers caused by retiring baby boomers. By the end of your studies, these same potential employers were offering you iPods, BlackBerries and other high-tech gadgets as incentives to join their teams. It was a period of full employment, with zero or almost zero unemployment, demand higher than supply, and headhunters after you in droves. The only downside. . . a terrible hangover when you woke up this morning.
Since the end of 2008, the world has changed, yet again. You who thought that the world had changed in 2001, and that you were on the fast-track to professional abundance, that all doors opened to jobs with generous salaries and guaranteed work/family balance, an office pool table, employer-paid weekly massages, and five weeks of paid vacation. No wonder the wake-up has been brutal, especially since baby boomers have decided that staying in the workforce is a good thing, particularly for their retirement savings, which have taken a recent beating. And if the stock market has gone back ten years, and your parents’ portfolio has lost its best ten years, you have just suffered the same setback career-wise. The most annoying thing is that your immediate supervisor, usually a Generation Xer (between 35 and 45), is lying in wait. He or she may even take sly pleasure in claiming that he or she sympathizes with your situation (which you don’t believe, not for a single second, especially when he or she adds that he or she “went through a rough patch in the 1990s, when you were still in short pants!”) He or she who racked up two or three bachelor’s degrees, a master’s degree and countless job changes before landing an okay one with a half-decent salary. He or she knows all about the value of hard work, making an effort, persevering, etc. His or her little smirk bugs you, and you tell yourself that as soon as the recession is over (soon, soon!) you’ll be out of there lickety-split, and go work elsewhere for 30% more money. In the meantime, you’re stuck with sizable financial commitments, and monthly reimbursements account for a large chunk of your budget, without the promised allowances and bonuses. You trade in your car for a bike (you are, after all, environmentally aware), sell your condo if possible, cancel your vacation to Cuba and, for some people, move back in with your parents.
Generation Y has been extensively written about with its generational shock and spoiled brat image. It has provoked much jealousy by other generations not so favoured by the social, demographic and economic context, and it is now paying the price of the crisis.
So, if you are a “Mr. X” or a “Ms. Boomer”, please, a bit of indulgence and compassion. After all, these young Ys have become what they are because you raised them that way, and our society and companies have greatly profited from their hyper-consuming ways. The tailor-made HR programs and efforts to attract and retain them should not be modified. Keep sarcastic remarks like “Welcome to the new reality, count yourself lucky to have a job, and forget about the espresso machine, MSN connection and working from home, okay?” to yourself. Resist the temptation to make them pay, be consistent and don’t assume a vengeful air. On the contrary, share your vision and concerns with them, involve them in seeking solutions, and above all, be transparent. Don’t take them for children and treat them like irresponsible teenagers.
Why? Because when the downturn is over, you will not want to wake up with a nasty hangover either.
Nathalie Francisci, Adma, CRHA
Executive Vice-president
at Mandrake Groupe Conseil