Recently in the Austrian press an article debated the Alpha generation, the very young generation born after 2010 and its expectations in terms of apprenticeship. The author presented the case of a famous company where the HRD revealed its disappointment with new candidates. They have no idea why they have to deliver or perform to get paid. For them, he says, working just means going out there and collecting money.

In the past, young apprentices or even young graduates were ready after graduation to become fully involved in work. It was only later in their careers that some wanted to gradually reduce working time before retirement. Now, the younger generation is more and more reluctant to start their career with a full-time job, consequently accepting to be paid less. For them private free time for leisure or family has more value than a career and they refuse to sacrifice their life like their parents did, they say.

For employers it becomes a real challenge to find enough FTE (full-time equivalent) employees to produce and deliver their existing orders. With the current general lack of candidates in the market, it gets even worse. Not to mention the implications for the lower retirement income these people will face down the road.

The Covid era has profoundly reinforced this phenomenon, which was already gaining momentum with the so-called work-life balance.

How do you experience it in your business? Do you find young employees who are still ready to deliver to earn money?

Gilles Huart
Group Regional Consultant CEE