Generation Y confronts economic crisis

STRUGGLE FOR JOBS
TheStar.com | living | Generation Y confronts economic crisis



As economy lurches, Generation Y members try to launch careers. Message is, stay positive
Nov 28, 2008 04:30 AM
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Sunny Freeman
Staff Reporter

When Noah Schwartz began the second year of his MBA in September, he expected job prospects would be plentiful when he graduates next April.

But that was before the omnipresent "crisis" – you know, the international economic meltdown that causes Schwartz's professors to talk recession, worried baby boomers to discuss layoffs and retirement, and their children to rethink plans as they come of age in an era of economic uncertainty.

Schwartz, 26, says he's now more realistic about the chance of landing his dream job.

"I'm going to have to be a lot less picky," he says. "As a new grad, I'm worried I won't be able to get a good job right away.

"You'll really have to be the cream of crop to even just get an interview, with the way the market is."

Schwartz belongs to a generation of about 85 million tenacious, technologically savvy, multi-tasking North Americans born during a baby bulge in the 1980s.

The generation is so young – its oldest members are not yet 30 – that they have yet to forge one name for themselves, referred to, interchangeably, as Generation Y, the Echo Boomers, or the Millennium Generation.

As the baby boomers born after World War II now watch their pension savings drain, the members of Generation Y are embarking on their careers.

They make up about 17 per cent of the Canadian labour force, whereas baby boomers total about 40 per cent, according to a 2008 Randstad Canada report on the increasingly multi-generational workforce.

The university class of 2009 faces a tight labour market, making it harder to land the "perfect job," says Lauren Friese, 26, founder of talentegg.com, a Canadian career website for fellow recent grads.

And Gen Y job seekers – less willing than prior generations to stay in a career they are not happy with – "shouldn't expect to intern on Monday and have the job on Friday," she says.

During economic downturns, competition for jobs increases, says Terry Power, 44, managing director of the Randstad Canada employment agency. Existing employees are less inclined to change jobs, while companies use more temporary employees and many will wait for a recovery to recruit permanent employees.

But Generation Y shouldn't get their iPod headphones in a twist over the current career climate, employment experts say, because the health of the job market depends more on demographic trends than economic fundamentals.

Despite some short term "hiccups" in the economy, says Power, Gen Yers have "every reason to be optimistic" about finding a meaningful career.

This is partly owing to a wave of boomer retirements, which will accelerate over the next 20 years.

"There will be a prolonged period of baby boomers leaving the workforce and not as many people coming in behind them," Power says. "With previous downturns, you tended to see a lot of job cuts."

This time around, Power says, "we're continuing to see a significant demand from businesses, despite the economy. In a variety of fields, there are certainly not enough people to fill the jobs. (For instance), they don't have enough people in some IT positions and skilled trades."

Young grads also bring fresh ideas and new perspectives, and companies want that.

Employers are fighting a "war for talent" as fiercely as ever because, as boomer executives retire, Gen Yers with leadership potential can help companies weather the economic maelstrom.

Plus, their starting wages are significantly lower than the salary of a boomer with decades of experience, Power says.

Economic crisis aside, Gen Yers "hold the cards now," says Razor Suleman, 34, founder and CEO of I Love Rewards Inc., a Toronto corporate rewards and recognition firm with a mainly under-30 staff.

That's good news for Gen Y folks.



Not only do they expect the world from their employer, they believe that their work can change the world. Gen Yers have grown up during a technological revolution that has created a paradoxical generation, Power says.

They are simultaneously more worldly and more self-centred than prior generations.

"They've grown up in a world where they get what they want and quickly....They expect instant gratification because of their technology and, at the same time, this technology connects them like never before."

For MBA student Schwartz, there is a potentially positive picture despite his job worries.

He says, based on what they've learned at the Schulich School of Business, he and his fellow students believe there are opportunities now for meaningful change.

"It's an exciting time to be an upcoming graduate," Schwartz says. And he remains hopeful that he will eventually get the job of his dreams.

"With the baby boomer generation being set to retire in the coming years, we are the next leaders."