Management Blog

Gen Ys are our tech mavens

When it comes to technology, Generation Y has the ability to make or break a new product, new research has found.

Reporting on a recent Forrester Research study, Smart Company explains that Gen Ys are more likely to possess a PC, video game, broadband or home network than any other generation.

They are also voracious consumers of media content. Gen Ys are more inclined to read blogs, be involved in social networking or watch online videos than other age groups.

The study claims Generation X are large technology users but more inclined to use it to support a lifestyle need as opposed to Gen Ys who embed gadgets in everything they do.

Retirement not so attractive for older workers

More statistics have been released that indicate Australians are avoiding retirement.

Australian Bureau of Statistics figures reveal the number of people who are working beyond the traditional retirement age has increased by half in three years, The Age reports.

In 2006, an average of 77 per cent of males and 60 percent of females aged between 55 and 59 remained in the workforce, almost twice the number of similarly aged workers a decade ago.

Change for the over 60s has also been dramatic. The figures reveal 58 per cent of men and 36 per cent of women in this age group are staying at work, a 19 per cent increase from 1997 numbers.

Capturing Gen Y consumers

When it comes to spending nobody does it better than Generation Y, according to a new study by commercial property consultants Jones Lang LaSalle.

The report found Generation Y will be the biggest spenders in the consumer market by 2015; a development made possible by the financial assistance of their Baby Boomer parents.

However, retailers are warned not to offer this group 'a retail as usual' approach. Jones Lang LaSalle say Generation Y consumers expect a lot more from each shopping experience.

Strategies said to appeal to Generation Y consumers include extended trading hours, continually evolving products, pop-up shops and gadget-focused, personalised marketing.

Entrepreneurship... not a family affair?

The latest Sensis Business Index has found 60 per cent of small businesspeople do not come from a family of business owners, ABC reports.

The survey also indicates first-born children are more likely to become entrepreneurs than the youngest child, a finding that contradicts popular belief on SME related family dynamics.

However, Swinburne University management researcher Professor Murray Gillin suggests the findings need to be viewed with caution.

He says passion and commitment – as opposed to birth order or family background – are ultimately the hallmarks of a successful entrepreneur.

Younger workers poor and transient

As a result of HECS debt, high petrol prices, decreasing home affordability and increasing living costs, Gen Y workers are the most money-hungry age group, a new Seek study has found.

Not surprisingly, the survey found one third of Generation Y respondents considered remuneration to be the most important aspect of their job.

The Generational Y category was also identified as the most transient of workers; over 70 per cent said they intended to leave their current employer in less than a year.

Aussies work harder and longer

If you feel like you need a break, this may be the reason: Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show Australians work longer hours than employees in many other countries, smartmanager reports.

The statistics indicate Aussies put in more hours than our US, Canadian and British counterparts and work 25 per cent more on an annual basis than the Germans and French.

Commentators say this strong work ethic is one of the main reasons Australians – particular those with administrative, IT and business skills – are in high demand by international employers.

It's claimed a growing number of overseas recruiters are heading our way to lure Australians overseas; instead of just offering jobs, these recruiters are also providing advice on visas, tax and health.

The changing face of work

Latest Australian census figures have revealed a significant rise in the number of Australians employed as hairdressers, community workers and accountants, The Australian reports.

Another significant change in the shape of our workforce includes a lack of jobs growth in the manufacturing, agriculture and information technology sectors.

Mining on the other hand has continued to increase its need for workers. Over the last five years it has experienced jobs growth to the tune of 50 per cent.

In terms of the professions, one of the big shifts relates to gender balance; female professionals now outnumber males by more than 100,000 as a result of a 45 per cent jump in their numbers.

Gen Y versus Baby Boomers

They're tech savvy, they're confident, they're spenders, they're everywhere! Are you over the hype surrounding Generation Y? Baby Boomer and demographer Bernard Salt is, and to prove the point he has composed an entertaining list of what he finds most annoying about Generation Y.

One of the many myths Salt attempts to bust in his recent article in The Australian is the often stated characteristic that Generation Y members don't fear the future. And why should they, vents Salt: "They have never experienced recession; they think the world is happy and rich all the time; they think, 'Why won't the future be just like the past?'"

Other concerns Baby Boomers may be inclined to have with the younger generation include Gen Y's apparent disdain for authority, a molly-cobbled upbringing, exposure to a non-competitive education system, lack of corporate loyalty and a desire to organise work around their life (as opposed to the Boomer's track-record of doing the opposite).

So where does the blame for all this lay? "Much of the problem with Generation Y is not Generation Y. It is Generation Y's Baby Boomer parents. It isn't Gen Y's fault that they have been born into small families and prosperous times. If they were indulged, who did the indulging?" says Salt.

Male births on the increase

Australian women in some age groups are in a majority. Those in their 30s outnumber the men in their age group by about 14,000, while there is a surplus of 16,000 for those over 40.

However, new research by The Weekend Australian indicates these numbers will reverse over the next two decades. By 2026, there will be an excess of 60,000 males in the 30 to 39-year-old age band, and an extra 38,000 men aged 40 to 49.

There are already 57,000 more men in the 20s age group. This is expected to rise to 73,000 by 2026. There has been a surplus of boys born over the past 20 years.

The generation that is optimistic and materialistic

A qualitative study - Fearless and Flexible: Views of Gen Y - based on in-depth group discussions with 70 young people in four capital cities and four regional areas, shows that young Australians are materialistic, optimistic and "untroubled by ideas".

The study, featured in a recent SMH article, says Gen Y aim for a car, job, house and kids and show little interest in matters outside their own material welfare. Even the university students are neither "intellectuals nor contemplative".

The research, which was commissioned by the Dusseldorp Skills Forum, a non-profit training and research organisation, shows Australia's young understand the future of work is mobility, adaptability and change. The only political issue on their radar is industrial.