Young Workers Need Resilience

YOUNG, sheltered and pampered, the younger generation of workers, commonly dubbed Generation Y, are in for a shock as a worldwide recession hits.

I'm referring to those born in the late 1970s and 1980s who have recently entered the workforce. Born into relative prosperity, this generation has not seen much hardship. Most of them were not in the workforce during the Asian Currency Crisis of 1997. Fresh out of school, they received multiple job offers with good perks. Retrenchment was not a word in their dictionaries.

However, with the financial crisis set to turn into a worldwide recession, many will start to realise their jobs are not as secure as they are used to. To weather this storm, this generation needs to show they have a characteristic often associated with past generations - resilience.

In Taiwan, the term "Strawberry Generation" was coined to describe this generation. Strawberries bruise easily and rot quickly thereafter. Hence, it was felt that the young could not take hardships. What will set the survivors apart from those who fall behind during this crisis will be the ability to bite the bullet and wait for the crisis to subside.

Measures that some need to take would be taking up lesser positions with lower salaries. Common to the older workers during previous recessions, this is a big nono for the young worker.

Ultimately, the one who can swallow the bitter medicine gets the remedy.