With innovation, Singapore’s millennials prove they’re not the ‘strawberry generation’

Photo credit: Pezibear.

The “reign” of Baby Boomers seems to be nearing its end. PWC found that millennials will comprise half of the global workforce by 2020. However, there has been much ado in the past decade about millennials being the “strawberry generation” or those who are vulnerable, delicate, and weak.

Having been born when the world was enjoying relative economic stability, millennials were brought up in material comfort—far superior to what their parents and ancestors had. The older generation now believes that millennials, having never suffered true hardships, are entitled and unable to take setbacks in their strides.

But all these are but hypotheses, very vocal assumptions, and not facts.

Debunking the strawberry generation myth

Singaporean millennials are in fact working hard toward attaining a bright future amid rapidly advancing technology. They are far from the “weaklings” that they have been made out to be.

A new survey of 1,000 millennials conducted by youth career development platform Glints reinforces this idea. The results revealed that the majority of the respondents understand what it takes to be successful and is actively working toward it.

Ninety percent said that the workforce of the future would be radically different from today’s workforce. More than half of the millennials surveyed, or 56 percent, believe that what they are learning in school today is inadequate for the future.

Furthermore, 78 percent have actively searched for learning opportunities outside school such as internships, competitions, and other projects to gain relevant skills for their future job. Eighty-two percent said that they are willing to sacrifice personal leisure and social time to partake in activities that could make them more employable.

All these statistics point to a generation that is highly involved in shaping their future and has no qualms about working hard to attain it.

Millennials are aware that being ready to enter the burgeoning workforce is no longer just about crafting a killer resume and preparing well for interviews. They know that having real-life experiences, like what they could gain from internships and competitions, are favored by employers.

A Manpower Group report also indicated that about 12 percent of millennials worldwide expect to work until the day they die. This speaks volumes about the amount of effort this generation is willing to put forth into their careers.

Additionally, more than 73 percent of millennials reported working more than 40 hours a week, which is considerably higher than that of the previous generations.

Adaptability to technology and innovation

The main difference between millennials and those of the previous generations is the former’s adaptability toward rapidly shifting economic trends. They are very much aware that they must move ahead of the times and keep up with technology and innovation in order to stay longer in their careers.

They also understand the need to continuously develop their skills, something that is more important today than it was in the past. The skills that are deemed valuable today are frequently associated with technical expertise, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Millennials, therefore, are actively looking out for employers that can help them hone their skills. Such opportunities happen to be in startups and SMEs which highly value innovation and entrepreneurial skills.

Determination to learn

A clear direction