Here's a weighty statistic: By 2025, more than 75 percent of the workforce will be composed of Gen Y employees, or people who are currently between the ages of 18 and 29. What will the professional world look like then, having been infiltrated by a generation of workers branded with descriptions such as tech savvy, achievement oriented, entitled, and even lazy?
A new study conducted by Millennial Branding and Identified.com, based on 4 million Gen Y Facebook profiles, uncovered several trends in this generation's professional habits, goals, and career development. Likely due to the past few years' troubled economy, the most common job title for this group is server. However, the struggling job market has not stalled the generation's professional development as severely as some may think. Manager is the second most common job title, and owner is the fifth—suggesting that these workers' careers are well under way despite economic challenges.
Dan Schawbel, founder of Millennial Branding and author of Me 2.0, cites Gen Y's "entrepreneurial spirit" as a reason for owner being one of the most common job titles, explaining that this generation's faculty with social media technologies "has lowered the barriers to entry for starting a business."
Gen Y's keenness for entrepreneurship is due to more than simply being raised on Facebook, however: The study also found that members of Gen Y expect more flexibility, responsibility, and mobility in their careers than some companies provide. "Gen Y is especially interested in working for startups because they have flexible work environments, they can make a major impact fast, and they want to be part of something that has potential," says Schawbel.