Y GENERATION

Y GENERATION

“Y Generation” is a concept referring to young people aged between 15 and 35 (born between 1980 and 2000), coming after their parents’ generation, called the “X Generation” (people born between 1960 and 1981).

Youngsters from the Y Generation are under scrutiny nowadays, as they are a topic of great interest for sociologists and human resources experts because they are so do different from the previous generations in terms of life expectations and lifestyle...

Last Sunday, at the Romanian presidential elections, it was the Y Generation who mobilized itself and allowed the election of Klaus IOHANNIS. In Romania, the Y Generation represents approximately 20% of the population.

The GRUIA DUFAUT Law Office and Mazars Romania held, on November 18, at a CCIFER seminar, a presentation on the Y Generation. Hereinafter you can find, in brief, the information presented at the CCIFER event.

PERSONALITY TRAITS

Young people of the Y Generation are always connected, want to live their life to the fullest and, in the mean time, find a balance between their jobs and their private lives. Financial independence is also one of the priorities of these youngsters.

As regards the Y Generation entrepreneurs, their characteristics are also different from their predecessors’. Thus, they are very considerate to themselves and their collaborators, they are flexible and their professional and personal lives intertwine 24/24. Consequently, they immediately respond to their business partners’ requests – very often on the same day. They are permanently connected, wherever they are! This is one of their main characteristics, allowing them to be highly responsive.

Y GENERATION – A MIXED GENERATION

Y Generation is characterized by its diversity, but its representatives hold conflicting views with respect to gender equality on the employment market. According to a global survey performed by MAZARS, gender balance within companies is perceived as evident by 44% of the Y Generation youngsters. For 16% of the respondents, gender balance is a trending topic, whereas for 10% of the respondents gender balance is a false issue. As regards women positive discrimination
policies, 71.4% of male youngsters oppose it; this opinion is shared by the majority – 48.5% - of female respondents. Nevertheless, even if 31% of women with no work experience favor discrimination policies, their number increases to 46% after two years of work.

Y GENERATION AND WORK CONDUCT

Compared to previous generations, Y Generation employees have a better knowledge of their rights (with respect to paid leave, part-time work, time of arrival and departure from work, home jobs). During job interviews, they are more ready to
negotiate benefits packages (healthcare, welfare) then their predecessors. Moreover, Y Generation members are driven by professional and personal development, provided by internships or private study scholarships).

On the other hand, as regards Y Generation entrepreneurs, the Romanian state recently provided them with incentives by implementing several support programs, such as SRL-D – financial support for young entrepreneurs creating a SRL-D (Limited liability company – start-up). This program benefitted from a budget of approximately 4.5 million Euros in 2014 and it could still be operational in 2015.