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%
© 2017 KPMG LLP, a UK limited liability partnership and a member firm of the KPMG network of
independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG
International”), a Swiss entity. All rights reserved.
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online