Meet the millennials

19

But what does this mean for companies of today?

That employee satisfaction survey that you’ve been screaming about

over the past few years won’t suddenly disappear overnight when this

new cohort comes along. That satisfaction score that you’ve focused

every effort into amplifying wont pale in significance, nor will the

concept of employee satisfaction become a thing of the past.

The bottom line? Companies need to be forward looking. With the

oldest members of these cohort only just leaving school, these teens

of today are primed to become the dominant youth influencers of

tomorrow. You need them on side and motivated.

The biggest mistake is to fall into a false sense of security and believe

that they’re just kids, there’s nothing to be done now. This generation

of youngsters are in school, but don’t be fooled; this doesn’t buy you

any time. In the time it takes you to read this paper, this group of

individuals are most likely making those key decisions which will

influence their professional life ten years down the line. To take

Biology or Maths at GCSE? To accept that accounting work placement

or not? The decision points are bountiful and companies need to firmly

plant themselves at the heart of them.

For example, the proportion of youngsters who consider a career in IT

is waning, drastically more so with females (16) . Think about that age-old

question “what do you want to be when you grow up?”. Fireman,

doctor, actress are all common answers, but how many children aspire

to be a hacker or a programmer?

Even more worrying is that this interest wanes with age, again more

so with females. Whereas 27% of girls in middle school (10–13 years-

old) have considered an IT career, this drops to 18% among high

schoolers (14–17 years-old). Furthermore, 69% of females who

haven’t considered an IT career attribute it to not knowing enough

about what IT jobs involve, suggesting that lack of interest alone isn’t

the culprit. (17)

10–13 year-old girls who

14–17 year-old girls who

considered an IT career

considered an IT career

27%

18%

% of females who don’t consider IT career

as they don’t know what it involves

69%

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independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG

International”), a Swiss entity. All rights reserved.

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