Generation Y is a cultural clash creating all sorts of challenges for companies around the world. Asia seems to be no exception.
So not that long ago we were doing a job in South East Asia. The company was confused about why their generation Y professionals kept churning off to work for smart Japanese owned companies. Well it turns out that the gen Y folk were after a bit more action than you might get in some more traditional Asian businesses. Often said is that Asian employee behaviour is about loyalty, formality and respect for those older/wiser, or if your a Hofstede fan, high on uncertainty-avoidance and low on individualism – the collectivist culture. (I’m not actually a great advocate for putting large diverse populations and geographies into little concept boxes, but anyway….)
Well, the gen Y folk, armed with their engineering degrees, MBA’s etc. weren’t happy because they were ambitious (not just money – they wanted training, experience, career development and participation etc.) just like their western counterparts. Perhaps they get the ambition bug from their western university education, or maybe just from being globally networked. Curious too that they respected their elder managers to the extent that they didn’t complain – they just left the company. Those that remained intended to move on after a couple of years experience.
Interesting is the 2/6/2008 International Monetary Fund article projecting economic growth in emerging Asia slowing to 8.6% (excluding China 10%). with 40% of export trade between Asia itself. I can’t see much change in gen Y labour demand based on those numbers.
