What youngsters want from India Inc: Freedom to explore, and space to fail

Pure financial incentives losing hold over Gen Z as they now have bigger dreams, but not necessarily one dream job

Ankon Bhattacharya always wanted to study at Harvard. The Boston, MA-based institute had also waived 50 per cent of the course fee after he cleared a special test. But the associated costs were still a barrier. And then there were the job offers he had received. From a top venture capital fund to international consultancy firms, he had quite a few global bigwigs knocking on his door.

Someone from an earlier generation could have "settled" for them. But choosing one of them would have meant breaking up with his dream of an MBA from Harvard Business School. 

So, the 21-year old IIT Delhi student made his decision. He chose a firm that agreed to pay him well and also help him with his fee for studying at Harvard.

Stories like Bhattacharya’s are becoming the rule rather than the exception among India's youngsters. For them, pure financial incentives no longer move the needle and a dream job is no more required.

As India celebrates National Youth Day on January 12, it is important to understand that its youth have a different relationship with their work. They are demanding learning opportunities, internal mobility, a sense of purpose and control over their career trajectories. So say the youth, the human resources (HR) professionals and employment agencies Business Standard spoke to.

"As I see among my peers, we are the most fearless generation. We want the freedom to explore, and even fail, and rise up again," says 21-year old Kriteesha Janveja, who joined a Mumbai-based global management consulting company to explore her interests across multiple sectors and industries to understand what she's good at.

The company culture and the relevance of the industry 5-10 years down the line also make a big difference.

After all, there can always be better jobs, but "there's no one best job," says Shreya Pagey, who's employed in the tech industry and is currently working from home.

The 24-year-old from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, says money isn't the only motivator for her.

"You will get paid in any job. But what about mental satisfaction? You get that only by putting in a performance you are satisfied with," she says.

So what are youngsters demanding in today's job interviews when they sit across the table?

"Essentially, purpose, impact, balance, and autonomy," says Sonali Misra, vice-president-talent & head of HR at Bain & Company (India). "Young employees want to know how their contributions impact the final client delivery... They don’t think of their career as a straight line but as a series of diverse experiences that can widen their perspective... This is very different from older professionals who are risk-averse and more inclined to value stability," she adds.

Basic expectations

Diversity and inclusion efforts at workplaces are becoming a basic expectation.

About 83 per cent of young workers would leave a workplace if they came across unfair gender pay gap, or no diversity and inclusion (D&I) policy, ADP Research Institute’s People at Work 2022 report found.

"The most striking difference in youngsters today is their sense of awareness and commitment towards building a sustainable world," says Binu Philip, CHRO-Greater India Zone, Schneider Electric India. "They seek an environment that fosters this curiosity and encourages them to work on emerging technologies or build them."

This has meant that companies have also had to keep up with the change in culture.

Saundarya Rajesh, founder-president of Chennai-based Avtar Group, which works on D&I at workplace, says, "Today’s youngsters are exceptionally aware of digital drifts, are more socially conscious than earlier generations and highly cognisant of diversity... I do not envy today’s talent managers!” She adds that managing today’s millennials (who have moved into mid-career positions) and Gen Z (who occupy about 40 per cent of all entry level positions) “demands greater inventiveness than ever before."

Harshvendra Soin, chief people officer and head–marketing, Tech Mahindra, concurs. "Employee expectations have fundamentally shifted and companies that don’t adapt will not survive," he says. What's needed is "providing employees with a healthy work-life balance that allows them to recharge, regularly demonstrating company values, ensuring fair pay and job security, and providing ample opportunities for their development and growth."

Younger professionals today also behave differently from their older colleagues when it comes to the “big talk”.

Says Ashutosh Gupta, country manager, India at professional networking platform LinkedIn, "Our Workforce Confidence Index research from October 2022 has shown that younger professionals are less hesitant in demanding higher salaries and flexible work choices."

Opportunity cost

Experts warn that failing to make necessary investments in human capital development runs the risk of an opportunity lost.

"Reimagining the partnership of India Inc with academia is the need of the hour," says Yeshasvini Ramaswamy, CEO of Mumbai-headquartered Great Place To Work® India. The firm works with over 1,200 companies “to create high-trust, and high-performance work cultures”.

"We also need to restructure some of the job profiles to reflect the free market and the gig economy... About 10 years ago, almost 90-95 per cent of hiring plans were about full-time employees. That's no more the case," says the serial entrepreneur.

Indian firms are realising that while they may be the best employer within India, they are now competing with global conglomerates for local talent.

Career counselling and capability building, thus, become a must to ensure that employees are able to realise their high, and often unmet, aspirations.

But, while salaries that match the job’s sense of purpose are in vogue, will this phenomenon withstand the looming recession and the large-scale layoffs?

"The layoffs are a subset of the global reset as business models are changing. Longevity from both employers and employees is not there as the global economic outlook is highly uncertain," says Ramaswamy. "The need is for the right skill at the right time," and the scales are tilted in favour of youngsters like Ankon Bhattacharya who have both skill and time on their side.

Death of the dream job

• Youngsters want better terms of employment in financial, social and professional realm, making the idea of a single dream job redundant
• Despite mass layoffs in the tech industry, 70% of Gen Zs (born late ’90s to early 2010s) aspire to join a tech firm (Nasscom and Indeed Dec 2022 study)
• Financial benefits are the key driver for millennials (born early ’80s to late ‘90s), but for Gen Z company culture, learning and growth are priorities (Nasscom and Indeed study)
• 83% of young workers would quit if they came across unfair gender pay gap, or no diversity and inclusion (ADP India's People at Work 2022 report)
• Gen Zs most comfortable discussing pay with family, friends, and co-workers they trust (LinkedIn study)