[2008.12.30]Generation Y Goes to Work

Generation Y Goes to Work
Y一代走上工作岗位

Dec 30th 2008 | SAN FRANCISCO
From The Economist print edition

 

译 / 陈继龙

Reality bites for young workers

Jessica Buchsbaum first noticed that something had changed in May 2008. The head of recruitment for a law firm in Florida, Ms Buchsbaum was used to interviewing young candidates for summer internships who seemed to think that the world owed them a living. Many applicants expected the firm to promote itself to them rather than the other way around. However, last May’s crop were far more humble. “The tone had changed from ‘What can you do for me?’ to ‘Here’s what I can do for you’,” she says.

 

2008年5月，杰西卡•布克斯鲍姆第一次注意到某些情况发生了变化。身为佛罗里达一家律师事务所招聘部门的主管，布克斯鲍姆经常会面试申请参加暑期实习的年轻人。在他们眼里，这个世界似乎本就该对他们的生计负责。许多求职者期待着公司来找他们，而不是自己主动送上门。不过，去年5月面试的那一拨人还是谦逊多了。“语气已经变了，不再是‘你能为我做什么？’，而是‘这是我能为你做的’了。”她说。

The global downturn2) has been a brutal awakening for the youngest members of the workforce—variously dubbed “the Millennials3)”, “Generation Y” or “the Net Generation” by social researchers. “Net Geners” are, roughly, people born in the 1980s and 1990s. Those old enough to have passed from school and university into work had got used to a world in which jobs were plentiful and firms fell over one another to recruit them. Now their prospects are grimmer. According to America’s Bureau of Labour Statistics, the unemployment rate among people in their 20s increased significantly in the two most recent recessions in the United States. It is likely to do so again as industries such as finance and technology, which employ lots of young people, axe thousands of jobs.

对于这个曾被社会问题研究者称作“千禧一代”、“Y一代”抑或“网络一代”的最年轻的劳动力大军而言，全球性的经济萧条犹如当头棒喝。“网络一代”大体上是指生于二十世纪八、九十年代的人。那些到时候就能毕业离校并找到工作的人，过去一直生活在一个工作多的是、公司争着抢着要他们的时代，而现如今他们的前路却是荆棘密布。据美国劳工统计局称，在美国最近的两次经济衰退中，二十几岁的年轻人失业率节节攀升。此次随着诸如金融、科技之类招募众多年轻人的行业大幅裁员，这一幕可能会重演。

This is creating new problems for managers. Because of the downturn, Net Geners are finding it harder to hop4) to new jobs. At the same time, their dissatisfaction is growing as crisis-hit firms adopt more of a command-and-control approach to management—the antithesis5) of the open, collaborative6) style that young workers prefer. Less autonomy and more directives have sparked complaints among Net Geners that offices and factories have become “pressure cookers” and “boiler rooms”. “The recession is creating lower turnover, but also higher frustration among young people stuck in jobs,” warns Cam Marston, a consultant who advises companies on inter-generational matters.

这给管理者提出了新问题。由于经济萧条，“网络一代”发现跳槽已经不再容易了。与此同时，随着受到经济危及冲击的企业更多地采取强制性管理措施，他们的不满情绪也在与日俱增。这种强制性管理与开方性管理背道而驰，而后者却恰恰能体现年轻员工偏爱的协作风格。自主性减弱，而指令性加强，惹得“网络一代”纷纷抱怨办公室和工厂已经成了“高压锅”和“锅炉房”。专门为各公司提供代际问题咨询服务的卡姆•马斯顿提醒说：“经济的衰退不但使得销售额下降，而且也令被同一工作‘套牢’的年轻人越来越沮丧。”

Such griping may reinforce the stereotype of young workers as being afraid of hard work—more American Idle than American Idol. Yet a survey of 4,200 young graduates from 44 countries published in Dec.2008 by PricewaterhouseCoopers, a consultancy, found that they want many of the same things from work as previous generations, including long tenure7) with a small number of employers. And they are willing to put in the hours to get them, if they are treated well.

人们素来以为年轻员工怕吃苦，这种看法也许会因为这样的抱怨而更为根深蒂固——“美国闲人”还是比“美国牛人”多啊。不过，普华永道咨询服务公司2008年12月公布的一项针对44个国家的4200名青年毕业生的调查发现，从对工作的要求来看，其实他们与上几代人有着诸多共通之处，其中就包括多签长期合同少跳槽。只要待遇好，他们愿意花时间来得到这样的合同。

Indeed, Net Geners may be just the kind of employees that companies need to help them deal with the recession’s hazards. For one thing, they are accomplished at juggling8) many tasks at once. For another, they are often eager to move to new roles or countries at the drop of a hat9)—which older workers with families and other commitments may find harder to do. Such flexibility can be a boon10) in difficult times.

实际上，“网络一代”可能正是公司需要用来帮助规避经济萧条风险的特定员工群体。一方面，他们能游刃有余地同时应付多项工作任务，另一方面，他们常常急于时不时地变换一下工作岗位或者工作地点——而老一代的有家有口及其他负担的员工或许就难以做到这一点。就困难时期而言，这种适应能力是好事。

Net Geners’ knowledge of internet technology can also help companies save money. Consider the case of Best Buy, a big American consumer-electronics retailer. Keen to create a new employee portal11), the firm contacted an external consultancy that quoted it a price of several million dollars. Shocked by this, a group of young Best Buy employees put together a small team of developers from their own networks who produced a new portal for about $250,000.

“网络一代”的互联网科技知识还能帮助公司开源节流。美国大型家用电器和电子产品零售商百思买就是一例。由于非常希望建立一个新的员工入口网站，该公司遂与国外一家咨询公司进行了接触，但对方要价却达几百万美元。百思买旗下的一群年轻职员对此感到很是震惊，于是依托内网组建了一个小型开发团队，只用了大约25万美元，就做成了一个新的入口网站。

Best Buy is also betting that its Net Geners can come up with new ways of boosting sales using the web and other means. Estée Lauder, a cosmetics firm, is also encouraging Net Geners to help it innovate. It has launched an initiative called iForce which brings together young staff to dream up ways of marketing products using emerging technologies.

同样令百思买笃定的是，它所拥有的“网络一代”能够应用网络及其它方式，找到新的促销办法。雅诗兰黛化妆品公司也鼓励“网络一代”为公司创新助一臂之力，并发起了一项名为iForce的活动，即动员年轻员工针对如何应用新兴技术销售产品共同出谋划策。

Programmes such as iForce are based on the notion that Net Geners are well placed to encourage their peers to dip into their pockets12). According to a recent survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit, a sister company of The Economist, Net Geners place more emphasis on personal recommendations than on brands when deciding which products and services to buy.

诸如iForce之类的活动基于这样一种观念，就是“网络一代”是可以用来鼓励其同龄人消费的理想人选。《经济学家》的姐妹公司、经济学家商情组织最近一项调查显示，在决定购买何种商品或服务的时候，“网络一代”更注重他人的推荐而非品牌。

Net Geners who find themselves out of a job are likely to use the same know-how to create a buzz about themselves so they can find another one. Charlotte Gardner, a 25-year-old Californian who was made redundant13) by a financial-services firm in Nov. 2008, has since been using online job and social-networking sites, as well as micro-blogging14) services such as Twitter15), to promote her skills to potential employers.

“网络一代”如果失业了，可能会利用同样的知识技能来为自己宣传造势，从而实现再就业。2008年11月，25岁的加利福尼亚人夏洛特•加德纳被一家金融服务公司裁员，之后他便利用网上工作、社交互动网络以及诸如Twitter之类的微博客业务，向潜在的用工单位“推销”自己的技能。

Firms battling through the recession will need to provide regular feedback to young staff on what is happening in the workplace and why. Companies that keep Net Geners in the dark will find themselves the targets of unflattering criticism both inside the firm and online. “These kids will scrutinize companies like never before,” explains Don Tapscott, the author of several books on the Net Generation.

在经济衰退中挣扎的公司要定期向年轻员工反馈信息，告诉他们公司正在发生的事情及其发生的原因。让“网络一代”蒙在鼓里的公司会发现，他们将遭受来自公司内部和网上毫不客气的批评。撰写过数部关于“网络一代”著作的作家唐•塔普斯科特指出了其中的原因：“这些孩子会对公司给予前所未有的认真审视。”（意译：在这些孩子的审视下，公司的任何事情都再也瞒不住了。或公司再也无法瞒天过海了。?）

In the end, compromises will have to be made on both sides. Younger workers will have to accept that in difficult times decisions will be taken more crisply and workloads will increase. Their managers, meanwhile, will have to make an extra effort to keep Net Geners engaged and motivated. Firms that cannot pull off16) this balancing act could see an exodus17) of young talent once the economy improves. That, to borrow from Net Geners’ text-message shorthand, would be a huge WOMBAT: a waste of money, brains and time.

最终的结果是双方都得作出让步。年轻员工必须接受的是，在艰难时期，执行决策要更加干净利落，工作量也会更大。与此同时，他们的管理者也必须为留住“网络一代”并提高其积极性而付出额外的努力。一旦经济复苏，无法实现这种平衡的公司可能就会眼睁睁地看着青年才俊纷纷离去。就像“网络一代”写的短信中说的那样，这会是一个巨大的“树袋熊”（WOMBAT），最终落得个“财力”、“人力”、“时间”三空。

 

译者: 人就一辈子  http://www.ecocn.org/bbs/viewthread.php?tid=16638&extra=page%3D1