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High-Tech & Technology -
DUN’S
100
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In Every Generation: 2016 was the Y Generation’s Greatest Year
By Meital Peleg
Who are the members of the Y Generation
and is the criticism of them really justified?
What would be the future of X Generation
members (Xers) in the job market? And –
please don’t forget the silver lining and
optimism
In 2016, the high-tech train kept charging for-
ward, and it seems this trend would also con-
tinue in the upcoming year. Here and there we
can see certain fields have slowed down their
growth, while other prospered. Yet, one of the
more interesting influential factors is the field’s
large proportion of Y generation members, the
often criticized generation consisting of those
born in the 80s and the 90s.
They were accused of everything from being
fussy and incapable of delaying gratifications,
to only living in the here and the now. On the
other hand, they have a lot to do with the current
successes and entrepreneurships.
Experience losses its significance
“This is undoubtedly a natural evolutionary pro-
cess, but it has a significant accelerating factor–
the fact that the Y generation prefers to work
with each other and in many ways, they don’t
care about the experience of the Xers. This is
evidenced by the rate in which Xers are being
pushed out of the job market, which is faster
than we would expect at this stage”, says Eyal
Solomon, CEO of the high-tech placement com-
pany Ethosia.
He says that “when about 45% of the market
consists of Y generation employees, we un-
derstand that more experienced workers are
pushed aside and forced to compromise on
other occupations.
The reason for this preference is mainly cultural.
Y generation members find it easier to communi-
cate with each other and the dialog with people
of their age group is more interesting for them
that conversing with older or younger people.
When we review the employment market, we
see that this element became very dominant.
Once upon a time, professionals used to count
their tenure by the hour, and suddenly, in certain
fields, Y generation members stop counting the
years of experience and provide greater impor-
tance to organizational culture fit”.
Solomon explains that “To use Y generation’s
terminology, organizations are becoming more
‘attention deficient’. While Xers prefer work
methodologies, the Y generation works from
day to day, and prefers real-time changes. If you
come with the Xer’s methodological culture, you
are no longer suitable for the organizational dis-
course, and the Y generation employees would
look at you as a hurdle for a culture that prefers
faster action. This is in fact the true collision
point between the generations – those arriving
from an organized culture and those who require
‘sprints’. At the same time, from an employer’s
perspective, since these employees constitute
a large – and growing – share of the job mar-
ket, it is obvious that organizations must adjust
themselves to them – otherwise they would be
left only with veteran employees, without reju-
venating themselves with young and up-to-date
workforce, and with fast, perhaps too fast, em-
ployee turnover.”
Solomon says that Y generation members bring
different characteristics and demands to the job
market: they want to earn a lot, and fast, they
seek challenges and study less in the university.
One of the ways in which this is expressed is
a trend of increasing resignations – currently
an unstable trend with several possible main
causes, but it requires workplaces to adjust
jobs to the new generation that is taking over
the market.
Ethosia’s data indicate that while in 2009, 2% of
all high-tech employees resigned, in 2015 and
2016 the ratios were 13.5% and 10%, respec-
tively. While there are indeed various reasons
for this phenomenon, it is attributed also to the
generation switch in the job market.
The disappearing Xers
Concerning the fate of Xers, Solomon says that
“They are not really disappearing but rather they
compromise on ranks and organizational posi-
tions that don’t necessarily reflect their tenure.
They take roles which are inequivalent to what
we are familiar with. They will no longer uncondi-
tionally climb the rank ladder in accordance with
their tenure, since the Y generation members
don’t believe in a tenure-based progression.
Undoubtedly there are also those who can’t
adjust to the changes, and they usually turn to
the field of consulting and may even become
freelancers. This option is particularly favored
Photo by Eyal Izhar