By 2020 Millennials will make up over a third of the global workforce. That’s one reason so many reports about them exist. Some say they are disloyal, self-absorbed and lazy, while others claim they’re a generation of digital entrepreneurs and innovators. Some aim to dispel the myths others have created. Just type “Millennials are…” into a Google search to see the stereotypes.
In the Human Age, Millennials are both shaping and being shaped by the world of work. They are redefining the employer-employee relationship. As the offspring of parents whose jobs became increasingly less secure in the 70s, 80s and 90s, they entered the labour market during a global recession with record youth unemployment, faster-changing business cycles, and increasing demand for new skills for which they are often told they lack the necessary education. So how do they feel about the world of work?
Millennials are surprisingly upbeat about their careers. Two-thirds are optimistic about their immediate job prospects. Sixty-two percent are confident that if they lost their main source of income tomorrow they could find equally good or better work within three months. Overall, Millennials in Mexico, China, Switzerland and Germany are the most positive, while those in Japan, Greece nd Italy are the least positive—a reflection of economic, political and cultural
factors in these countries.