Today’s 26 to 42 year olds are on the verge of becoming the largest age group on the Swiss labor market. They pushed through popular changes such as part-time work for management staff as well. But the big test is yet to come.
The fun society was there before, but millennials have brought a laid-back attitude to many places in the workplace, too.
Much has been said and written about Millennials, that cool looking age group born between 1981 and 1996. Members of this generation take every freedom in life. Having grown up in unprecedented prosperity, they would not have done anything for a year after graduating from school – except maybe traveling around the world as a backpacker.
Then they went to university, definitely determined, but with the option of adding one, two or even three postgraduate courses. And once they finally got into the professional world, they would take their first break after three, four or at the latest five years, be it to travel again, to devote themselves to the newly founded family or to complete further training.
Work-life balance optimizer
Nothing is more important to this generation than an optimal work-life balance, is something that is still being heard to this day. In older semesters, this sometimes causes astonishment. We have seen how millennials insisted on working part-time when they started their careers and later were not willing to work full-time, even if they were offered a managerial position. “We would never have dared to do that,” says the head of a Swiss communications agency, who is in his early sixties and belongs to the baby boomer generation (born between 1946 and 1964) that is gradually disappearing from the labor market.
Another executive, also born in the late 1950s, who works in the American airline industry, puts it bluntly: “No millennial wants to get up at six o’clock anymore.” Work-life balance and family are much more important to people than work.
Sought-after specialists
Has a generation grown up that limits itself to the minimum in its professional activities and shies away from assuming responsibility? The topic of Millennials or Generation Y, as this age group is also known, triggered a broad debate in German-speaking countries for the first time almost ten years ago. It wasn’t a coincidence, because at the same time Millennials were getting their first promotions. Employers had no choice but to pay more attention to the needs of this age group.
At the same time, the competition for skilled workers began to intensify because the first members of the baby boomer cohorts were reaching retirement age. In the weekly newspaper “Die Zeit” was published in March 2013 under the title “Generation Y: Do they also want to work?” a well-received article. Appeared shortly thereafter several books – also with catchy titles like: “Luck beats money. Generation Y. What we really want”, “The secret revolutionaries – How Generation Y is changing our world” or “Without us – Generation Y and their rejection of performance thinking”.
The authors diligently collected examples of professionals who prefer to work part-time rather than full-time in order to have enough time for family and hobbies. At the same time, the authors repeatedly stated that millennials attach great importance to meaningful work. For her, it is crucial that the orientation of her employer corresponds as far as possible with her own ideals, for example in environmental and climate protection.
companies adapt
The presentations at that time also emphasized the strong desire to work from home temporarily. And almost a decade later? Many of the developments that were considered exotic at the time have become the norm. For example, most large companies now allow their employees to work part-time – even in managerial positions at lower or middle management levels. Some small companies are not quite there yet, but this is also due to the fact that many of them simply do not have the means to spread the work over additional shoulders.
Numerous companies have also responded to the urge of many millennials to go beyond pure sales and profit generation and, for example, to make a contribution to climate protection. The topic of ecological and social sustainability now ranks high on the list of priorities for many companies.
This generation deserves great respect for initiating such a pivotal change. Without the support of millennials, digitization would not have progressed as far as it is seen today in the most diverse areas of life. In cooperation with alert baby boomers and members of Generation X, many organizations needed their insistence to finally dare to take the step from the analog to the digital world, so that all the practical online offers in retail, in the tourism or finance were developed.
Benefits of working from home recognized early
Many millennials had already advocated working from home and more attractive office landscapes before the outbreak of the pandemic. In the course of the past two years, however, the last skeptical manager has probably realized that in some areas it is just as efficient to work from home. Many employees, including older ones, may have discovered that the quality of life increases suddenly when the daily commute is eliminated.
When the first millennials rose to managerial positions in large numbers around 2013, members of Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980) formed the largest group among the working population in Switzerland. They accounted for 37 percent. Millennials followed closely behind baby boomers (31 percent) with a share of 29 percent.
In the current year, Generation Y should catch up in the labor market with those born primarily in the 1970s and thus after the pill bust. According to the Federal Statistical Office, the difference between the two groups was only marginal by 2021. Generation X accounted for 35.9 percent and millennials for 35.2 percent of all workers. The proportion of baby boomers had shrunk to 16.5 percent.
In the next few years, millennials will increasingly become the dominant force in the Swiss labor market. Against this background, it is not surprising that even older patrons, who until recently viewed Generation Y with a certain amount of suspicion, are now willingly accommodating to their wishes and concerns. “It’s useless not to do this. Otherwise I’ll be left without skilled workers,” says one managing director, who seems a little resigned, on behalf of many.
However, the question is whether all the changes that millennials have pushed through in working life will also last. Similar to the previous Generation X, Generation Y belongs to those lucky ones, at least in Switzerland, who have not yet had to experience a persistent recession. As a rule, there were enough jobs for well-trained people in particular. Within Generation Y, more than half of the 35-year-olds now have a tertiary degree. There have never been so many university graduates in Switzerland.
In view of the sharp rise in inflation and additional uncertainties due to the war in Ukraine and increasing economic problems in China, however, the risks of a marked downturn in the global economy have increased. If, as feared, economic growth weakens sharply or even a recession occurs, the cost pressure would inevitably increase.
But do you prefer to be within sight of the boss?
For millennials, who have always lived under the impression of being a desirable workforce, this would be a rude awakening. Executives among them are faced with unpleasant questions: Do we still need the expensive new office landscapes, including lounges and yoga rooms, if many employees prefer to work from home anyway? And are there functions that could safely be dispensed with?
In the event of job cuts, part-time employees and those who would rather work from home than within sight of their boss in the office would probably have to fear for their jobs the most. As experts on human resources point out, it is easier to accuse them of not having given their full commitment to the company than those who make an effort to go to the office every day.
The frequent job changes that millennials tend to make could also take revenge. When it comes to restructuring, the “last in, first out” principle often applies. Those who have only been there for a short time run the greatest risk of losing their jobs.
And the next generation is coming
With or without a recession, another tricky task awaits the bosses of Generation Y in particular. With Generation Z, the next age group is preparing to make its mark on the world of work. The peculiarities of those born after 1996, who in 2021 already accounted for almost 12 percent of the labor force in Switzerland, have not yet been researched comparatively well. But from the USA, where young people tend to complete their studies earlier than in Europe, the first stories – which are probably quite worrying for some bosses – are arriving.
That is what a report said last October in the New York Times together, a generation whose relatives once said straight to the boss’s face: “Can’t you do it yourself?” Or: “Can’t I go home at 2 p.m. when I’ve finished my work?”
Millennials, for one thing, will fare no differently than any generation before them. Suddenly younger people are moving in who are trying to take even greater liberties. And some members of Generation Y, who now have to manage people themselves, may look back wistfully to the time when they made bold demands themselves.