Generation Y then Z, the names follow one another and so does their desire for change. The inadequacy of current structures is leading them to leave their companies, and even their professions. Here’s a brief overview of these upheavals.
The figures speak for themselves: 30-40% of female lawyers and 20% of their male colleagues leave the profession after just 5 years at the bar. Similar trends, albeit in smaller proportions, can be found in other high-pressure service professions. In addition to departures, companies also have to contend with high turnover, burn-out and absenteeism rates, all of which are detrimental to their financial health. The increase and generalization of this malaise is due in part to the refusal of new generations to put up with what older generations have accepted.
There are many reasons for this malaise, including pay that is far from commensurate with the amount of work required, a lack of recognition, loneliness, a lack of meaning, an overly vertical system and blocked prospects for career development. More than anything else, it’s about the unsuitability of these structures’ mode of governance and management for the professional desires of the new generations. How can we attract them when hourly billing, the mother of presenteeism, is presented as the only way forward?
Becoming a partner is no longer the primary objective, and it’s certainly not what makes people happy. A study of 6,200 U.S. lawyers showed that salary or rank had no correlation with happiness. Conversely, the lowest-paid lawyers and those on legal aid were the ones who reported being the happiest.
A PROFOUND DESIRE FOR MEANING
Over the past few decades, our world has undergone major upheavals: global warming, casualization, automation, social networking and the societal revolution in leisure activities. This is the world in which generations Y and Z have grown up, so it’s hardly surprising that they have a clear vision of what they want to bring to the world. The top three criteria students and recent graduates are looking for in their future jobs are, in order: job satisfaction, work atmosphere and consistency with their values. For them, a job that makes them proud is one where they feel useful, where they can innovate or hold a position of responsibility. The criterion of remuneration comes last. This quest for meaning is the key to understanding this generation.
However, far from being “hippies”, the new generations follow a dual injunction: to do good while doing business. Nearly half of Gen Zers see themselves as entrepreneurs.
Their need for freedom is paramount. They are slashers: they see themselves working first as a lawyer, then as a baker, then as the creator of a start-up, or all at once, in France and abroad. There is no longer a clear-cut path, as they are well aware of the end of the CDI and the obsolescence of diplomas and skills: “they know they can only rely on themselves, that they can never rest on their laurels, that they will constantly have to reinvent themselves.” (Grande invazion report)
Born with digital technology, they navigate networks like fish in water, knowing the latest advances and questioning everything. In fact, information from the top is no longer taken as gospel. While management remains overwhelmingly directive, young people want it to evolve towards a collaborative mode.
Next week, we’ll be suggesting a number of ways in which we can respond to the needs of these new types of employee.
To find out more
The younger generation’s quest for meaning challenges traditional companies
“La révolte des premiers de la classe, métiers à la con, quête de sens et reconversions urbaines“, Jean-Laurent Cassely, 2017, Arkhe
Survey signed by BNP Paribas and The Boson Project on Generation Z and its vision of business
