Meet the millennials

So what can companies do now?

Learning begins at home and at school. Generation Z’s key

Generation Z also harbour a misconception around the

role models are their parents and teachers. Companies need

nature of IT jobs. When asked what a career in IT would be

like, youngsters home in on the stereotype that it means to

to embed themselves in these places to propel education in

the right direction.

be isolated, sedentary and operating alone in front of a

screen for 40 hours a week. Again developing strong

Generation Z have a limited perspective of IT careers; we

partnerships with local partnerships could facilitate change in

need to start reversing this. Technology can be cool and

this space. Simple initiatives such as inviting school children

companies have a responsibility to spread the word. Being a

to the office for a day would go a long way in dispelling

visual journalist, a music data scientist, a wildlife technology

these claims. Needless to say these visits should be as

engineer all sits under the umbrella of technology – teachers

entertaining as possible – perhaps running a robotics show

need to start championing these opportunities in the

and tell, or a simulation of how a hacker might break into a

classroom. Developing an alliance with a particularly primary

bank?

school would help companies to start educating teachers.

One strand of KPMG’s Women in Technology programme,

Another factor that doesn’t do Technology’s reputation any

IT’s Her Future, focuses on exactly this. Through the IHF

favours is the vanilla-flavoured IT curriculum served to

Young Girls Campaign (18) , KPMG is working to provide

Generation Z. As kids these days begin their IT class, on the

students with the right information about technology to

agenda is learning how to type, to save a word document, to

enable them to make informed career decisions. The

create a pie chart in excel. Companies need to put

campaign also looks to place more of KPMG’s technology-

themselves forward to spice things up. Taking over a single

driven women in front of these young students, particularly

IT class for the day and showing children how to create a

to encourage young females to get involved and show them

gaming application would no doubt be far more enthralling.

that it can indeed be done.

Our roadmap plans the campaign’s execution through three main channels to

achieve and maintain competitive advantage:

Secondary school engagement:

Primary school engagement:

through work experience,

through school visits to KPMG and

innovation days and mentoring

Teacher engagement: through

vice versa

programmes

provision of teacher toolkits and

hosting interactive teacher

conferences at KPMG offices

This three pronged approach tackles the problem at its root causes, and is feasibly imitable by any company savvy

enough to make the investment. The ultimate aim is to start attracting young Gen Z candidates for apprenticeships and

graduate programmes now, but the beneficial by-products are numerous. It acts as a lever to build up their technology

knowledge so that they’re better prepared once they reach the real world. This means less time spent on training and

upskilling and more time delivering. Remember how we drilled home the importance of employee engagement? Well this

also gives their millennial siblings the opportunity to engage with something other than daily project work, and view

themselves as role models contributing to the community.

The moral of the story is that you need to act now. Miss the boat and you’re

opting to side step another pool brimming with talent and potential.Your loss.

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