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| The 'Rachael' haircut |
| The 'Rachael' haircut |
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The term Generation Y refers to a specific cohort of individuals born from 1980-1994 (although this is disputed by demographers and varies across countries). [1] "Generation Y" alludes to a succession from Generation X, a term which was originally coined as a pejorative label by the Canadian fiction writer Douglas Coupland in 1991. [2]
Generation Y are primarily children of the Baby boomers and Generation Jones (US only), though some are children of older Gen X adults. [3]
The term “echo boom” (used in reference to Gen Y) refers to a five year span between 1989 and 1993 when for the first time since 1964, the number of live births in the US reached over four million. Previously, even the rate of 1965 (3.76 million) was not reached until 1985. Also, the birthrate of 1971 (17.2 million) has yet to be reached according to the 2000 US census. [4] If the years 1976–2000 are used, as is common in market research, then the size of Generation Y in the United States is approximately 76 million. [5]
In 1980 the number of births again began to increase gradually hitting a peak of 264,000 births in 1992 – the highest number of birth since 1972. The births then dropped away through the rest of the 1990’s before beginning a recovery in 2002 which signals the start of Generation Z. [6]
If Gen Y-ers weren’t so exposed to Facebook, MySpace and SMS technologies they would unarguably be less peer oriented, and if fewer of them had 24 hour internet access, they would not be so well-known for being the instant generation that they are. That’s because the generations are shaped by the events, leaders, developments and trends of their times. Everyone is shaped by their times to varying degrees, despite how they are raised, their socioeconomic status and other factors. [7]
Presidents & Prime Ministers | Iconic Technology | TV & Movies | Celebrities | Social Markers/Landmark Events | Leaders & Role Models | Trends in Fashion | Scientific Discoveries & Breakthroughs |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bill Clinton, USA | Internet | Titanic | Brad Pitt | September 11, 2001 | John Paul II | Neon colours | Discovery of HIV, 1980s |
John Howard, Australia | SMSing | Pay TV | Nicole Kidman | New Millenium, 2000 | Saddam Hussein | Cargo pants | Genetic fingerprinting, 1984 |
Tony Blair, UK | DVD | Reality TV | Kylie Minogue | Death of Princess Diana, 1997 | Vladimir Putin | The 'Rachael' haircut | The theory that an asteroid impact caused the extinction of dinosaurs is put forward, 1980 [8] |
As with previous generations, many trends (and problems) began to surface as members of Generation Y came of age. [9]
Fouteen percent of Australia's workforce population are Gen Y-ers. By 2020, Generation Y will comprise 42% - or the majority - of the workforce. [21] Below, the trends currently facing Gen Y workers are outlined.
Generation Y are currently entering a workforce were they - rather than jobs - are in demand. This, of course, has to do with the ageing of the workforce which is projected to only get worse, peaking in the 2020s. The current average age of an Australian worker is 39. [22]
The growing demand for workers is not confined to Australia – or even the western world. The war for talent is a global one. The median age of 63 countries is currently between 30 and 42. [23]
Australia is currently experiencing the biggest generational shifts that have been seen for six decades. Generation Y have big shoes to fill with the oldest of the Baby Boomers, Australia's largest generation, now exiting the workforce, leaving big voids to be filled. The year 2008 marked the point in Australia when more people exited the workforce than entered it. It is predicted that by 2020, there will be 500,000 jobs without any one to do them. The point is that over the next 18 years this huge generation will all sail past 60 and ease out of the workforce leaving a very significant labour and management void. [24]
With the demand for workers ever growing, Gen Y have many options to play with when it comes to employment. Because they have so many options - far more than their Boomer parents and Builder grandparents ever dreamed of - Gen Y-ers do not stay in jobs - or careers! - for very long. [25]
While almost half of Baby Boomers believe employees should stay in a job for at least five years, only one in four Y-ers would consider staying five years. Furthermore, in 1959 average tenure across all ages and industries was 15 years, while today average tenure is just over four years. In their lifetime, Gen Y-ers will have over 5 careers over 29 employers and be self-employed at least once. [26]
Traditionally, one would complete the education stage, move into the working years and perhaps after a career change or two head into retirement. In contrast, the lives of Gen Y-ers are more of a mosaic of different roles, phases and careers. Today, the education phase extends well into adulthood, and throughout the work life. Gen Y may retrain several times with these careers taking them to other states and countries. [27]
According to a study of Gen Y-ers, renumeration and job security are no longer on the top of the list of worforce needs. This demonstartes how the above workforce trends such as increasing options have impacted on what workers look for in a job. [28]
In order of importance, this is what Gen Y look for:
In their recent book, Reynol Junco and Jeanna Mastrodicasa (2007) [30] found that in a survey of 7,705 college students in the US:
In his book Growing Up Digital, business strategist and psychologist Don Tapscott coined the term "Net Generation" for the group, pointing at the significance of being the first to grow up immersed in a digital and Internet driven world. [32]
Generation Y-ers are commonly referred to as digital natives (as coined by Marc Prensky, although this is often argued), as are the upcoming Generation Z, because they have lived their entire lives immersed in digital technologies. [33]
Digital Aliens | Digital Immigrants | Digital Adaptives |
---|---|---|
The Builders (1920-1945) were latecomers to technology. The internet, podcasts, SMS, online gaming and wireless neworks are largely alien concepts to them. | The Baby Boomers (1946-1964) are digital immigrants who reached adulthood without digital technology. While many embrace new technologies, some do so reluctantly. | Digital technologies began to emerge (in a mass sense) largely during the teen years of Generation X (1965-1979) - the 1980s. Generation X willingly embraces the technologies they saw evolve into consumer durables. [34] |
The various labels given the generations reflect the times which have shaped their generational profile. The names given the Builders reflect the events that shaped them (the World Wars and the Depression); the Boomer labels, the population boom following World War II and the shedding of moral codes after the sexual revolution of the 60s and 70s (the love generation and the lost generation, for example); the X labels, the material prosperity of the times (the options generation) and the after-math of the sexual revolution (the baby-busters), and the Y labels, the digital age that heralded in its birth. [35]
The labels:
m
→Generation Y at work: {{Globalize/Australia}} |
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Line 55: | Line 55: | ||
| Titanic |
| Titanic |
||
| Brad Pitt |
| Brad Pitt |
||
⚫ | |||
| Columbine shootings, 1999 |
|||
| John Paul II |
| John Paul II |
||
| Neon colours |
| Neon colours |
||
Line 73: | Line 73: | ||
| Reality TV |
| Reality TV |
||
| Kylie Minogue |
| Kylie Minogue |
||
| Death of Princess Diana, 1997 |
|||
⚫ | |||
| Vladimir Putin |
| Vladimir Putin |
||
| The 'Rachael' haircut |
| The 'Rachael' haircut |
![]() | This article needs attention from an expert in Sociology. Please add a reason or a talk parameter to this template to explain the issue with the article. |
![]() | This article has multiple issues. Please help
improve it or discuss these issues on the
talk page. (
Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
No issues specified. Please specify issues, or remove this template. |
This article may need to be rewritten to comply with Wikipedia's
quality standards. |
The term Generation Y refers to a specific cohort of individuals born from 1980-1994 (although this is disputed by demographers and varies across countries). [1] "Generation Y" alludes to a succession from Generation X, a term which was originally coined as a pejorative label by the Canadian fiction writer Douglas Coupland in 1991. [2]
Generation Y are primarily children of the Baby boomers and Generation Jones (US only), though some are children of older Gen X adults. [3]
The term “echo boom” (used in reference to Gen Y) refers to a five year span between 1989 and 1993 when for the first time since 1964, the number of live births in the US reached over four million. Previously, even the rate of 1965 (3.76 million) was not reached until 1985. Also, the birthrate of 1971 (17.2 million) has yet to be reached according to the 2000 US census. [4] If the years 1976–2000 are used, as is common in market research, then the size of Generation Y in the United States is approximately 76 million. [5]
In 1980 the number of births again began to increase gradually hitting a peak of 264,000 births in 1992 – the highest number of birth since 1972. The births then dropped away through the rest of the 1990’s before beginning a recovery in 2002 which signals the start of Generation Z. [6]
If Gen Y-ers weren’t so exposed to Facebook, MySpace and SMS technologies they would unarguably be less peer oriented, and if fewer of them had 24 hour internet access, they would not be so well-known for being the instant generation that they are. That’s because the generations are shaped by the events, leaders, developments and trends of their times. Everyone is shaped by their times to varying degrees, despite how they are raised, their socioeconomic status and other factors. [7]
Presidents & Prime Ministers | Iconic Technology | TV & Movies | Celebrities | Social Markers/Landmark Events | Leaders & Role Models | Trends in Fashion | Scientific Discoveries & Breakthroughs |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bill Clinton, USA | Internet | Titanic | Brad Pitt | September 11, 2001 | John Paul II | Neon colours | Discovery of HIV, 1980s |
John Howard, Australia | SMSing | Pay TV | Nicole Kidman | New Millenium, 2000 | Saddam Hussein | Cargo pants | Genetic fingerprinting, 1984 |
Tony Blair, UK | DVD | Reality TV | Kylie Minogue | Death of Princess Diana, 1997 | Vladimir Putin | The 'Rachael' haircut | The theory that an asteroid impact caused the extinction of dinosaurs is put forward, 1980 [8] |
As with previous generations, many trends (and problems) began to surface as members of Generation Y came of age. [9]
Fouteen percent of Australia's workforce population are Gen Y-ers. By 2020, Generation Y will comprise 42% - or the majority - of the workforce. [21] Below, the trends currently facing Gen Y workers are outlined.
Generation Y are currently entering a workforce were they - rather than jobs - are in demand. This, of course, has to do with the ageing of the workforce which is projected to only get worse, peaking in the 2020s. The current average age of an Australian worker is 39. [22]
The growing demand for workers is not confined to Australia – or even the western world. The war for talent is a global one. The median age of 63 countries is currently between 30 and 42. [23]
Australia is currently experiencing the biggest generational shifts that have been seen for six decades. Generation Y have big shoes to fill with the oldest of the Baby Boomers, Australia's largest generation, now exiting the workforce, leaving big voids to be filled. The year 2008 marked the point in Australia when more people exited the workforce than entered it. It is predicted that by 2020, there will be 500,000 jobs without any one to do them. The point is that over the next 18 years this huge generation will all sail past 60 and ease out of the workforce leaving a very significant labour and management void. [24]
With the demand for workers ever growing, Gen Y have many options to play with when it comes to employment. Because they have so many options - far more than their Boomer parents and Builder grandparents ever dreamed of - Gen Y-ers do not stay in jobs - or careers! - for very long. [25]
While almost half of Baby Boomers believe employees should stay in a job for at least five years, only one in four Y-ers would consider staying five years. Furthermore, in 1959 average tenure across all ages and industries was 15 years, while today average tenure is just over four years. In their lifetime, Gen Y-ers will have over 5 careers over 29 employers and be self-employed at least once. [26]
Traditionally, one would complete the education stage, move into the working years and perhaps after a career change or two head into retirement. In contrast, the lives of Gen Y-ers are more of a mosaic of different roles, phases and careers. Today, the education phase extends well into adulthood, and throughout the work life. Gen Y may retrain several times with these careers taking them to other states and countries. [27]
According to a study of Gen Y-ers, renumeration and job security are no longer on the top of the list of worforce needs. This demonstartes how the above workforce trends such as increasing options have impacted on what workers look for in a job. [28]
In order of importance, this is what Gen Y look for:
In their recent book, Reynol Junco and Jeanna Mastrodicasa (2007) [30] found that in a survey of 7,705 college students in the US:
In his book Growing Up Digital, business strategist and psychologist Don Tapscott coined the term "Net Generation" for the group, pointing at the significance of being the first to grow up immersed in a digital and Internet driven world. [32]
Generation Y-ers are commonly referred to as digital natives (as coined by Marc Prensky, although this is often argued), as are the upcoming Generation Z, because they have lived their entire lives immersed in digital technologies. [33]
Digital Aliens | Digital Immigrants | Digital Adaptives |
---|---|---|
The Builders (1920-1945) were latecomers to technology. The internet, podcasts, SMS, online gaming and wireless neworks are largely alien concepts to them. | The Baby Boomers (1946-1964) are digital immigrants who reached adulthood without digital technology. While many embrace new technologies, some do so reluctantly. | Digital technologies began to emerge (in a mass sense) largely during the teen years of Generation X (1965-1979) - the 1980s. Generation X willingly embraces the technologies they saw evolve into consumer durables. [34] |
The various labels given the generations reflect the times which have shaped their generational profile. The names given the Builders reflect the events that shaped them (the World Wars and the Depression); the Boomer labels, the population boom following World War II and the shedding of moral codes after the sexual revolution of the 60s and 70s (the love generation and the lost generation, for example); the X labels, the material prosperity of the times (the options generation) and the after-math of the sexual revolution (the baby-busters), and the Y labels, the digital age that heralded in its birth. [35]
The labels: