How Important is Gen Y in the Workplace?

I recently read an article on the Sydney Morning Herald Website; http://smallbusiness.smh.com.au/managing/management/gen-y-in-the-firing-line-909289552.html which has stated that current employers are more likely to get rid of Generation Y employees first, compared to their elder aged staff.

This raises many questions about Generation Y and how we are perceived in the workplace.

Today’s current economic climate has the ability to be one of the worst downturns that the world has ever experienced and it is certainly one of the most volatile times for my Generation of workers, known as Generation Y!

As a Generation Y employee working in recruitment, I am often in a position where I will hear about the pro's and con's of workers closely aged to myself, 18 to 30 years old. We often hear from the media, management sources, elder members of the community and various other outlets that Generation Y are considered lazy employees who are only money driven and move around jobs way too much.

Whether you agree with this or not, I often see Generation Y employees that work and study extremely hard to achieve goals and meet expectations whilst really trying to be the best employee they can, so they can live as comfortably as generations of workers before us have.

So I ask the question, have Generation Y candidates in the Construction Industry been stereotyped as a bunch of cash greedy job hoppers or have we been given an easy ride to success with every opportunity to achieve?

Therefore, I thought I would take this topic of discussion to a professional in the Construction Industry, a General Manager from a National Mid Tier Organisation who has first hand experience employing Generation Y candidates and managing them on a daily basis.

1. How many Generation Y employees do you have at the moment and what type of positions do they fill?
We currently employee 12 Generation Y staff (considered 18yrs to 30yrs old) which consists of Contracts Administrators, a Contracts Managers, a couple of Foreman and Cadets.

2. What do you look for when you hire Gen Y candidates and what are your expectations? Do these expectations differ to any other Generation of workers?
I have the same expectations of my entire staff whether it’s Generation Y or Generation X. I look for younger employees that have the same work ethic as the older staff and have a bit of street wise about them. They must be a good cultural fit also.

3. Are Generation Y employees fulfilling your expectations in the workplace? Do they achieve set goals and targets?
Alot of Generation Y employee’s don’t set goals and need to be pushed. The work ethic is different between Generation Y and Generation X workers who get on with the job because they are used to working hard with longer hours. Gen Y will work longer hours but they need to pushed into doing it. Gen X would easily work a 60 plus hour week and wouldn’t leave until their job was finished, they would work 6 day weeks because working a Saturday was normal, younger employees will only work the odd Saturday.

4. How do you find the turnover of Generation Y staff? Do you find them loyal or do they move around too much?
They definitely move around too much, a lot of the younger employees are short sighted and are only chasing the money that is on offer. I think this current climate will change all that and most of these young workers should change their ideas.

5. In your opinion do you find that Gen Y candidates try and progress too quickly in the workplace?
Yes they do, it is common to see 24 and 25 years olds wondering why they are already not Project Managers. A lot of these candidates are straight out of University and want to become a Project Manager straight away. You would normally spend 4-5 years as a Cadet then move into Contracts Administration and then with at least ten years experience under your belt you would become a Project Manager.

6. Do you find that they are career driven or money driven or both?
I would say both, with money being the most important thing for most.

7. In your opinion what sort of positive skills / knowledge / experience can Gen Y bring to your company that Gen X fails to bring?
The biggest skill they can bring is their use of technology and getting the most out of software and systems. It comes naturally to a lot of younger employees with most Generation X workers struggling to get the most out of technology.

8. Considering the current state of the market, have you found that Gen Y employees are concerned or worried about their jobs?
I haven’t had too much feedback from my employees but we do keep them in the loop and updated as much as possible.

9. Do you think the volatile nature of the Construction Industry is off putting for junior candidates coming through the ranks?
It is really hard to say at the moment because a lot of industries are in a similar position. I think that in the Construction Industry we are very fortunate that we can offer very good money to younger workers and probably one of the only sectors that can afford this luxury. Its up to the young employees how much they want out of it, if they are prepared to work hard and apply themselves then they can find a very rewarding career in Construction.

10. If your company experiences a downturn, is Gen Y the first to go? If so Why?
No not necessarily, it is usually a combination of factors including loyalty and performance. If an employee has shown us over 10 years service which some of them have, and have performed quite well then we are going to be more likely to keep them on.

11. Looking into 2009, what type of employee bracket will you be looking to employee?
Quite hard to say at this stage however we will be looking to take on a real mixture of workers. In terms of Generation Y we normally take on a few cadets which is something we will continue, we would also like to take on some young site based people when the time is right, as previously we have had an ageing site team. It is important that the young employees don’t want to progress too quickly, not being a Project Manager within 1 or 2 years is not the be and end all.

12. What is your overall message / opinion about Generation Y in the workplace today?
I would say overall, Generation Y have un-realistic salary expectations in relation to their experience. There have been certain companies that have expanded too quickly in our industry and in some cases thrown younger employees too much cash for what they can do. I believe that the older workers are alot more realistic in our industry. They have often worked their way up, been through the hard times and will take less money even though they have better experience. If Gen Y comes out of university and after 1 or 2 years ask for a salary of $110K which I have noticed, then quite often they will be the first to leave during a downturn.

Please feel free to comment and provide your perspective on this continually debated topic.

Patrick Page
Construction Consultant
Conduit Recruitment

Review calls for 457 wage overhaul

The Federal Government has been told to overhaul the temporary skilled migration scheme to make the pay rates fairer.

Industrial Relations Commissioner Barbara Deegan has told the Federal Government to scrap the minimum salary system and replace it with market rates.

The Construction and Mining Union's (CFMEU) National Secretary, John Sutton, says the change would prevent the exploitation of 457 visa holders.
"That's something that's been clear to the unions all along. We've called on Government now for over three years to implement that and we feel vindicated that the commissioner is arguing that," he said.
"That's a bedrock concept. These workers must be paid the same as Australians who are doing the same work."
"It will take away a lot of the attractiveness of this scheme being a cheap labour scheme."
Immigration Minister Chris Evans agrees.

But Senator Evans says he is wary of the recommendation to give foreign workers Medicare coverage by charging an employer levy.
He says it would put an additional burden on the public health system.
The Government will consider the recommendations as part of next year's budget.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/5144614/review-calls-for-457-wage-overhaul/

Glimmer of hope for builders as loans for new houses ticks up

I recently read an interesting article on the Master Builders Australia website - there is hope for the construction industry in sight!

Loans for ‘new’ dwellings moved higher in September in contrast to a further decline in loans for the purchase of established dwellings, according to peak building and construction industry organisation Master Builders Australia.

Mr Peter Jones, Master Builders’ Chief Economist, said “The steep decline in overall housing finance commitments over the past 12 months lends support to the Reserve Bank’s aggressive moves to bring down interest rates down by a full two percentage points in the past three months. “With the likelihood of more cuts to come over the next six months, the bold decision to bring rates sharply down coupled with additional government spending should bolster confidence and should put a floor under the market.”

“Encouragingly, the number of loans for ‘new’ dwellings moved higher in the month, following 12 consecutive monthly declines.”He said “A further period of uncertainty is likely over the remainder of the year as the full extent of the global financial crisis plays out and this means soft conditions in the housing market can be expected to prevail for another 6 to 9 months.” The total number of dwellings financed for owner occupiers, seasonally adjusted, fell by 2.7 per cent in September 2008, to be down 26.9 per cent on the same month last year.

The number of loans for ‘new’ dwellings (construction and new combined) was up by 2.4 per cent in September to be down 26.8 per cent on the same month last year.- the number of loans for the construction of dwellings rose by 2.0 per cent in September, to be 17.4 per cent down on the same month last year. - the number of loans for the purchase of new dwellings rose by 3.6 per cent in September, to be down 42.3 per cent on the same time last year.

The number of loans for the purchase of established dwellings fell by 3.3 per cent in September, to be down 27.0 per cent on the same time last year. The value of lending to finance the purchase of investment housing fell by 1.1 per cent in September, to be down 22.8 per cent on a year ago.

Dubai Cityscape Conference - A Vision of Tomorrow

A couple of consultants at Conduit along with myself recently attended the Dubai Cityscape Conference.

Cityscape Dubai 2008, in its 7th year, is the largest business-to-business real estate investment and development event in the world. Cityscape Dubai attracts regional and international investors, property developers, governmental and development authorities, leading architects, designers, consultants and all senior professionals involved in the property industry. It provides an annual forum that celebrates the very best in real estate, architecture, urban planning and design from around the world.

About 60,000 participants from over 150 countries had gathered in Dubai, to be a part of the world's largest development exhibition and its associated conferences, which is expected to break all previous records. About 40,000 visitors flocked the Cityscape Dubai during the first two days of the show, which exceeds a total of three days of crowd gathering during last year's event.

With the world facing market uncertainty, we enter a new era in which the Middle East developers are expected to maintain or even increase their presence across the world. The intensity and scale of the iconic projects, is one of the most impressive property booms in modern history that has kept the UAE and Dubai in particular, on focus worldwide for most of the decade.

However, a report by the property consultants Colliers International stated that Dubai prices would drop by 16 percent during second quarter of 2008, and will remain flat until 2010, which came as bad news just prior to opening of the seventh Cityscape Dubai.

On the whole, about $100bn worth of new projects were launched on the first day of Cityscape. However, this news failed to ignite investor confidence, as there were growing fears about the global credit crunch and the possible overheating of the local property market. Starting from Dh.350bn beachfront project to a kilometer-high tower, the developers at the annual Cityscape exhibition in Dubai launched the usual series of mega-developments, which has been responsible for boosting the Gulf Arab Commercial hub to international fame.

While the Dubai mortgage lender Tamweel, announced plans to launch about Dh.2bn worth of Islamic bonds in 2009, the Sorouh Real Estate of Abu Dhabi announced that all its projects have been proceeding on track.

It is evident after attending Cityscape that we began to think about whether the large scale projects exhibited at the conference will actually be built. Although the shopping malls and apartment complexes look great now, when they are completed in 10 years time they will look dated. There was alot of talk surrounding Dubai and whether places such as Abu Dhabi will in fact produce bigger and better developments in the years to come.

It will be interesting to see as to whether other countries in the Middle East overtake Dubai with the grandeur and large scale of their developments. One thing is for sure that the Dubai Cityscape Conference will continue to be the largest property exhibition in the world attracting tens of thousands from all over the globe.

Credit crunch to hit the building industry

It is clear that the current economic crisis is affecting numerous industries, including the building sector.

An article in The Age yesterday discussed the industry’s concerns.

The construction industry faces job losses due to a downturn in activity caused by the global economic crisis, builders have warned.

Projects from small apartment developments to big commercial jobs have been put on hold amid investor concerns and tightening credit.

The downturn could be a setback for the State Government's controversial plan to encourage more Melburnians to live in flats around transport and retail hubs.

Master Builders Association of Victoria executive director Brian Welch said yesterday many projects had been stopped in the early stages and others cancelled.

"Investors are looking around and asking if they really wish to take a plunge at this point - this will send a shudder through the industry," he said.

"There is a prospect there will be industry layoffs and a downturn in work in the new year."
The Housing Industry Association, which represents home builders, said the crisis was hitting apartment projects.

"It ranges from 20-unit to 200-unit developments," HIA acting state director Robert Harding said.

"The larger the development, and the more money that needs to be put up, the tougher it's getting."

Mr Harding said this could hurt the Government's Melbourne 2030 urban plan, which centres on apartments.

Mr Welch said unions should consider more flexible work practices on big commercial projects to help ease the pressure during the economic crisis.