“We are dealing with a demanding generation. That’s a good thing, because it helps to correct distortions in the world of work.” – Wolfgang Mayrhofer, Vienna University of Economics and Business
fear not! With this core statement, Wolfgang Mayrhofer from the Vienna University of Economics and Business, during the panel discussion in Graz – organized by the Social Business Hub Styria together with atempo and the Kleine Zeitung on the topic “How young people want their working world” – encouraged all employers to embrace the new generation to consciously and actively ask potential employees. “This task is difficult, but feasible – if companies meet future employees on an equal footing and the work contributes to creating meaning, well-being and the common good.” Because that is what matters now, the fight for the best junior staff, which increases from year to year is getting tougher due to demographic change, only those companies that take the demands of young people on their future jobs seriously can win. “Of course, a job is always about money, but that’s no longer the only decisive reason.” And even long-established goodies such as a company car park, a moped driver’s license for successful learning or a fruit basket in the canteen will not attract tomorrow’s specialists to the company Curls.
From the employer to the employee market
One of the most important points here is that companies need to recognize that the model that has worked well for decades has long since changed from an employers’ market to an employee’s market. “If today I have a quarter fewer people between the ages of 15 and 25 than in 1990, and that with the population remaining roughly the same, then it is logical that the young people know exactly what they are worth. They have the upper hand,” explains Mayrhofer. And he also knows where companies can start, not with the “what”, but with the “why”. In many areas of life, the younger generation has the feeling that it is five to twelve in the world. “They are confronted with climate change, human crises, unfair opportunities, demographic effects, resource destruction and the like. That is why the creation of meaning in work is of such great importance”.
Or to put it another way: Young people ask themselves whether the labor they put into the company’s range of services or products also contributes overall to a better society, to a better world. “Many companies invest massively in the areas of sustainability and resource conservation. But they don’t put that in their window display,” says Mayrhofer. Communicating this more clearly can give companies an advantage when looking for employees.
Flexibility, flat hierarchies, team spirit and responsibility
But also questioning “locked-in” schedules, workplace areas that hinder communication and even the hierarchies themselves open up ways to face this demanding young generation and thus become much more attractive for the new, so coveted generation, assures Mayrhofer. Kirsten Tangeman, Head of the Social Business Hub Styria, is also starting here: “The ever more pronounced digitization is increasingly making the distinction between private life and work more and more difficult and the work-life balance is being faced with new challenges.” Um keeping pace with these developments requires agile corporate cultures in which efficiency, collaboration and the freedom to experiment are exemplified. Mayrhofer is convinced that the area of collaboration and general exchange with colleagues should be given more space where possible. “If I can’t redesign the workplaces, I can create meeting zones. The only important thing is that employees can exchange ideas informally. This promotes the sense of togetherness. Or, to put it in ‘Newspeak’: you feel connected to the ‘Fam’. And what more could a company ask for than that?”
trust in employees
Keyword desire: According to Bikorn-Research, flat hierarchies, free work schedules and the authorization to set goals yourself are just as important for a job . And it doesn’t need big money for that, it doesn’t need a complete reorganization, it only needs one thing, says Mayrhofer: “Trust in the employees.” And the careful handling of the trust placed in you should also be rewarded, says Walburga Fröhlich, CEO of atempo, convinced: “Time is one of the most valuable goods. We therefore give our employees the opportunity to take a paid break of eight weeks every five years and do whatever they want with it.”
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