Recently I came across a report by the Bentley University:
“The millennial mind goes to work. How millennial preferences will shape the
future of workplace”. The report sheds light on some very revealing findings.
But what I found most interesting was the fact that the millennials view career
success differently than their parents did? Rather than striving for CEO spot,
66% of the millennials would like to start their own business and 37% want to
work on their own.
According to Fred Tuffile, Bentley’s director of
Entrepreneurial Studies, the answer is simple: “Millennials see chaos, distrust
of management, breaking of contracts and bad news associated with business.”
The report mentions that from Facebook to Tesla, millennials have plenty of
positive entrepreneurial role models to look up to. He goes on to say; “While
they know their chances of creating another Facebook are low. They do think
it’s fairly easy to create a cool startup. Millennials are realising that
starting a company, even if it crashes and burns down, teaches them more in 2
years than sitting in a cubicle for 20 years.
Millennials are realising that
starting a company, even if it crashes and burns down, teaches them more
in 2 years than sitting in a cubicle for 20 years.
In India, we read news everyday how youngsters are opting
out of cushy corporate jobs and preferring to join startups or become entrepreneurs themselves. The success achieved by the
founders of Flipkart, Ola, Snapdeal or Paytm has made headline news and
inspires youngsters to do something on their own. The new age India is ready to
break away from the typical career paths, to take a chance, to follow their
hearts, and this is clearly evident from the hiring trends being witnessed in
the country.
A budding startup ecosystem, challenging assignments,
fundings, and an associated coolness quotient are attracting a lot of talent
towards the Indian Startup space. A recent infographic in Economic Times showed
that more and more people are opting to join a startup. In 2014, 84.8% of young
job seekers were willing to join the Startups, which in 2015 has inched upwards
to close to 89%. The number one reason why people are opting to work for
startups is the opportunity to work on latest technology.
Startups and ecommerce companies were the top most
recruiters in 2014 at the IITs. Also a lot of students at IITs were either
declining jobs or skipping the recruitment process due to their growing
interest in entrepreneurship. Unlike earlier years when Engineering graduates
preferred to gain job experience in the industry before starting their own
companies, many graduates now prefer to pursue their own dreams through their
startups immediately after graduating from college.
This scenario is so different from about 2 decades ago when
youngsters only had the option of being Doctors or Engineers or if you were a
non-science student to become a chartered accountant or a teacher. You were
idolised if you had a government job. The scenario began to change with
the liberalisation in the 1990s, and the advent of large private companies and
MNCs thereafter. Slowly and steadily with the changing times, having your own
startup started to gain social acceptance.
Today, role models like the Bansals of Flipkart, Kunal Bahl
and Rohit Bansal of Snapdeal and VVS mani of Just dial have demonstrated that
you don’t need to spend decades toiling at someone else’s company and learn an
industry before you can become a success in your own right. The bottom line is
that creating a Startup is becoming a socially acceptable alternative to
getting a job or going for a MBA after graduation.
