Undisciplined, lazy, not very willing… The clichés about young people in business are hard to resist. Following a call for testimony from our colleagues at BFM Business published at the end of January, the majority of the approximately 4,700 interviewed argued that young Generation Z had a problem with work. Listening to or reading about their elders, we sometimes have the feeling that it is impossible to work with them. Far from bringing water to their mill, Apec published on February 1 a study that dismantles each of these stereotypes. The figures in fact show that young people are not less invested than others but simply present new demands.
Young people are no less willing
Contrary to popular belief, 18-27 year olds do not attach less importance to their work than previous generations. According to the study, young workers are ready to invest in their task, as well as in their company: 78% say they are ready to work more in the event of a peak in activity if they are paid accordingly. 52% will work hard even in the absence of compensation and 7 out of 10 young people will not hesitate to carry out missions that do not appear in their job description. Julien Cyr, Managing Director of Holberton School France, an IT development school where students work independently, without a teacher, sees these young people up close and subscribes to the results of the study: “These are young people who are much more engaged. To defend a cause, they go to the end. When they want to choose a company, they now want to choose a profession with impact. »
New requirements and qualities
One of the factors that fuels negative stereotypes is the more attentive look that young people have on their working conditions and their need for flexibility, explains Julien Cyr: “Young people will be much more careful in the search for a balance between professional lives. and personal life. Also, they take more risks and will consider other types of work, such as fixed-term contracts or freelance work. » The study also highlights this desire not to stand still in their professional career: 89% of workers under 30 want to earn more money, 80% ask for more autonomy at work and 69% want exercise more professional responsibilities. Scores higher than those collected in older age groups. But despite its demands and ambitions, this crop of young people does not lack qualities: “They are much more creative and understand digital technology much better: they put up many fewer barriers and are more autonomous,” observes the boss of Holberton School. France. We can therefore hope that Generation Z will stop being perceived as the ugly duckling of the job market.
Photos pushed by social networks
But they are neither the last nor the first to be discredited in this way. According to Julien Cyr, the refrain of “young people used to know how to work!” ”, is not new: “With social networks, these kinds of clichés spread like wildfire. Now, the intergenerational conflict is truly visible and the caricature is all the more exacerbated. » If in 20 years BFM Business asks the same question to its readers, there is no doubt that the results will be essentially the same.
2024-02-09 14:38:11
#young #people #give #damn #work
