Generation Y Fights Against Traditional Workdays
America’s traditional 9-to-5 workday may be changing- and for the better.
Young professionals are increasingly making wherever they are on the globe their cubicle, as a paradigm shift is emerging towards perspectives on the value and productivity of the conventional work environment.
Some of the world’s most prominent companies, such as Ernst & Young and Aflac are enabling increasing flexibility towards employees in order to both attract and maintain the world’s greatest talent, according to a recent report published by TIME magazine.
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Even though many people are struggling to find work in the current market, research indicates that youths of generation Y are increasingly placing value on work-life balance and pursuing careers with companies that enable flexibility in terms of working hours and locations.
In fact, in a study produced by Mom Corps, 37 percent- more than one-third of respondents- said that they would take a pay cut to ensure workplace flexibility.
Although many companies have been reluctant to embrace the new work-place flexibility model, preferring to stick to the old command and control structure, researchers have found that giving employees increased freedom improves their productivity and establishes a sense of loyalty towards a company.
For many, the shift makes sense as the demands on modern day information workers are generally unrealistic. Studies have shown that working in front of a computer for hours on end is not productive, as people lose the ability to concentrate after several hours. Thus, many employees wind up spending unproductive hours in front of the computer pretending to be productive.
“Employees are maxed out,” flexible workplace consultant Kyra Cavanaugh told MarketWatch.com
“Companies just can’t get anymore productivity out of employees coming out of the recession, and they are starting to leave their workplace. People are fed up,” Cavanaugh added.
With an increasingly interconnected global economy, most individuals employed in informational sectors have the capacity to work both remotely and during nontraditional hours and are beginning to push for companies to enable more flexible work options.
“Work-life balance” has been a hot topic over the last several years, as studies have consistently shown that far too many Americans suffer from not balancing enough time for their personal life. The U.S. has some of the longest working hours and shortest paid vacation time of all countries in the developed world.
Corporate culture coupled with the intrinsic “workaholic” nature of many American people is often cited as the reason for the overworked American employee. Other factors cited include the lack of job stability, and a tendency for employers to reward workaholic behavior.
However, the call for a more flexible modern work environment by the members of generation Y appears to be working as one of the top 12 trends for 2012, as named by public relations firm Euro RSCG Worldwide.
Generation Y is indeed overturning the conventional work day.
