“Far from stereotypes, workers under 30 are committed and motivated by their professional development.” The title of this study published on January 31, led by the Association for Executive Employment (Apec) and the think tank Terra Nova, clearly announces this. Contrary to popular belief, young people are no less invested in or disconnected from work and business than the rest of the population, on the contrary.
Yet clichés die hard. In their introduction, the president of Apec Gilles Gateau and the general director of Terra Nova Thierry Pech point out that “93% of managers (of all ages) believe that young people have a different relationship to work than their elders, and 76% even think that this difference will persist.” Still along the same lines, “comparing with their elders is rarely to their advantage: 64% of managers describe them as less loyal, 64% less respectful of authority, or even 59% consider them less invested,” say they. But this study, carried out on the responses of nearly 3,000 young workers under the age of 30 compared to those of nearly 2,000 workers aged 30 to 65, clearly shows that the aspirations of the youngest are ultimately very similar to their elders. .
Similar work motivations
Several responses particularly illustrate this observation. Thus, almost half of young people in employment believe that their work “is as important (36%), or even more important (11%) than other areas of their existence”. A “proportion identical to that observed among 30-44 year olds (47%), and even “higher than that observed among 45-65 year olds (36%)”. A majority of young people (78%) even say they are ready to “work more in the event of a peak in activity with financial compensation”, compared to 75% for 30-44 year olds and 67% for 45-65 year olds.
In the same sense, the new generation would have the same motivations for work as the rest of the population. The triptych “remuneration, interest at work and life balance” appears – in this order – among the expectations of the youngest with regard to employment… i.e. exactly the same motivations as their elders. “Good balance between personal and professional life” is even less of a priority among younger people (34%) than among other age groups (38% for 30-44 year olds, 45% for 45-65 year olds) , going against the idea of a chronic disengagement of young people from the company.
Concerning the relationship with hierarchy, another often-repeated preconceived idea – affirming that the youngest would not accept and would even systematically question any form of authority, the study of Apec and Terra Nova shows the opposite. 83% of 18-29 year olds would accept the decisions of their hierarchy, whether “on principle” or by needing to “understand” them beforehand: a proportion which is even higher than that of the oldest (80% of 45- 65 years). On the contrary, only 3% of young people would “find it difficult to accept that your superiors tell you what to do”, compared to 5% and 8% for older age groups. Enough to “disprove the hypothesis of a crisis of confidence supposedly specific to new generations”, explains the study.
“Each generation produces this discourse on youth who have less taste for effort”
The main difference highlighted by this study ultimately concerns the “strong desire” of young people to “progress” and “seize the opportunities available to them” in the world of work. A higher ambition which takes “all its meaning at the start of professional life”, point out Apec and Terra Nova.
Speaking to AFP, Apec President Gilles Gateau confirms that this discourse on youth and their disengagement from work is in reality not new. “Each generation produces this discourse on a youth who has less taste for effort, but added to this is the Covid crisis, revealing the questioning of the relationship with work,” says the man who is also an economist. “What characterizes this generation is its ability to leave a job that does not meet its aspirations, which the previous generation did not have,” observes Gilles Gateau. But as this study shows, this dynamic is perhaps ultimately above all a sign of young people who want to be able to fully invest in their business.