The Millennial Mind - Youngsters prefer to be on their own

 

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.

The Author is CEO & Founder People Sculptors.  Shaping People. Building Companies

 Author : Sidharath Tuli