Today’s youth seek life-work balance: TISS

Bella Jaisinghani TNN 

Mumbai: Employers troubled by high attrition rates may feel less guilty if they read a youth survey released by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS). It says that today’s youngsters value work experience over stability: they change jobs more frequently than their parents did and are not embarrassed about putting “thumbnail careers” on the CV. 
    The missionary zeal of Satya in Satyakam or Vijay in Zanjeer no longer holds appeal. Today’s youth feel that the days of the Angry Young Man, who single-handedly changed the system, are gone. Now, you need to be a team player to bring change. Yet, 38% of respondents were willing to join politics “to end corruption and injustice”. 
    According to the Young India survey, the millennial generation—born after 1985 —seeks “life-work balance” rather than putting work first in the equation. 
    The two-month quantitative survey was conducted by Dr D P Singh, chairperson of the Centre for Research Methodology, TISS.  

‘Previous generation was ashamed of short job stints’ 
Mumbai: The qualitative analysis for a TISS survey about today’s youngsters was undertaken by private consultant Shalini Rawla. The team interviewed 500 youngsters, 250 in Mumbai and the rest in New Delhi. 
    Singh said, “We found a lot of changes that differentiate this generation from the past. They are extremely hardworking, and because a lot of opportunities are available to them, they are apt to move on to new jobs quickly. As compared to their parents who probably held on to one company for years before moving on, youngsters today may be seen as ‘disloyal’ by employers. Especially those in the BPO and IT sectors keep a job for barely two years at best.” 
    The earlier generation was almost embarrassed about putting a short stint or “thumbnail career” on their CVs. Not so this one, said Rawla. Reversing the mantra of work-life balance, life-work balance has taken over. “Few youth are opting for arestrictive 10-7 job because they believe you only live once. Flexitime is a definite plus. They also want to spend money rather than save,” said Singh. 
    Corruption, and the dismal economic and political scenario may dishearten the parents of the respondents, but not them. “Around 45% are optimistic about India’s economic future in the next five years,” says the TISS expert. 
    Rawla found that the advent of social media had unburdened the present generation of “helicopter parents”—those who tend to monitor their child’s activity on a routine basis. “In fact, youngsters now expect helicopter employers to show them how things are done rather than merely issue instructions,” she said. 

FINDINGS OF YOUNG INDIA SURVEY 
    Youth comprise 31.5% of India’s population (NSS 2008-09). The millennial generation is one of the biggest generations in numbers and by 2020, its members will represent one out of every three adults 
    The TISS report says 54% of youth will consider a job with less work time while 89% look for flexible timings Of the respondents, 51.2% were keen to volunteer for charitable causes and the betterment of society 38% would like to join politics to “bring about the change” they believe in, and to curb injustice, corruption and crime About 45% feel that India’s economy will improve in the next five years

Source:::::: The Times of India, 15-04-2013, p.01, http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Client.asp?Daily=TOIM&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&Enter=true&Skin=TOINEW