The Coming of Gen Y’s and the Impact to the Workforce

I recently read  with interest an article in Talent Management Magazine titled, “The Evolution of Recruiting.”  It discussed how talent recruitment practices have changed in the last few years and how it will continue to evolve as our Boomers begin to leave and the Millenials, or Gen Y’s, age in.  Consider these statistics:  there are 80 million born between 1976 and 2001; in 2014, 36% of the workforce will be comprised of Gen Y’s, while there will be 46% by the year 2020; 64% have asked about social media policies during a job interview with 24% reporting such policies would be a consideration in accepting a job offer.

Considering those numbers, the way organizations recruit talent will need an overhaul from current practices, especially if they want top performers.  Using social media to find talent, like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, hiring personnel can not only search for potential employees but can also use them to brand themselves as a desirable place of employment.   Keeping up with the technological advancements is presenting challenges in the recruitment process when having so much potential and data to mine through and ensuring the ‘right’ candidate is found.

Other considerations that need to be considered are the values of the Y generation: flexibility, the opportunity to work in different markets, finding a company that fits with their needs and career advancement opportunities (although not necessarily with the same company – it is predicted they could have between 14-25 different jobs throughout their lifetime).  Other factors Y’s consider are a company’s mission and vision, how involved and socially responsible the company is, and fitting in work with their life, and not the other way around.

Y’s are the up and coming workforce and will make a great impact in the way business is done, moving from the more traditional way to being more open and flexible as well as technologically-savvy.  Knowing the values and needs of this generation will keep the pipeline full and flowing with talent that can bring energy, creativity and social consciousness into the world of work and change the way business is run.