New priorities of Generation Y

I have a twenty-something friend who has already lived and worked in 6 different countries, and is travelling the world for 7 years. He never stays in the same place for long and flits from country to country living the experience and absorbing the culture.

Does this nomadic way of life sound familiar? If you have friends with similar stories, you are probably a millennial.

A few decades ago an employment history that looked like the one described above, would have been totally unthinkable. Nowadays this is something that does not surprise us that much. Today we can certainly say that the job market has become a global entity. Evidence for this is the fact that the youngest working generation, so called Generation Y, is now very likely to search and apply for jobs abroad. But why? What motivates them to leave their home countries? Europe Language Jobs, a new startup, focusing on multilingual candidates, is looking to answer these questions.

First of all, this generation boasts very impressive language skills, which give them the confidence to apply for jobs abroad. They have all studied foreign languages since childhood, so they feel comfortable expressing themselves in different languages.  English is the most widely spoken language in Europe. It is taught to 96.7% of European students

Besides having better language skills than previous generations, millennials have much more opportunities. Today, with the appearance of low-cost airlines, travelling has become more affordable than ever. Inexpensive accommodation, online maps, translation apps have pulled down the cultural barriers of the past and have made visiting foreign countries more comfortable. The native digital generation grew up using the Internet. For them reading the latest news from foreign countries, learning facts, seeing pictures and watching videos about different places across the world has become second nature to them. This highly interactive information provokes adventurous impulses, making millennials naturally curious about different countries and cultures. For this digital-savvy generation, finding a job abroad has never been easier. Besides searching on the internet for local job boards and recruiting agencies, there are international job boards which directly specialise in multilingual candidates willing to relocate.

The modern, technology-focused labour market, twinned with changes in education has created a profitable environment for millennials to travel abroad. Would older generations have done the same if they’d had the same opportunities? The answer is probably, yes. But would they have worked and lived in different countries? Millennials have a totally different approach to work than their parents. They are looking for fulfilment. They want a rewarding job that makes them happy. Loyalty to companies has become very rare, and yet remains a highly valued attitude to have for employers. Generation Y have new priorities when it comes to choosing a workplace. Of course, money is still an important factor when applying for a job, but it definitely slipped from its position at the top of employees’ priority list. However, gaining international experience, whilst also exploring the world, has earned a very prestigious place on that list. In fact, while previous generation travelled to work, millennials work to travel. Working has become a new way of appeasing the travel bug that so many of us claim to have caught. Young candidates are searching for new types of opportunities that we not very common when our parents were starting their careers, including remote, freelance, short or mid-term opportunities and working holidays. As stated by the language-based job board, the positions that companies mostly recruit international candidates for are Customer Service, Sales&Marketing and IT-related opportunities.

The fact that more and more people are looking for international professional and more notably, personal challenges, means that the competition among candidates has become global. Now job seekers have to compete for the best opportunities not only on a local level, but internationally too. At the same time, this situation could be beneficial for companies, as they can choose from a larger variety of candidates.

The job market has become an exciting, rapidly changing international space. Are you ready for a challenge?

Source: by Fanni Barsi/EuropeLanguageJobs – Guest author