Demographics

Age & Population »
Education »
Work Values »
Workforce »
Technology »
Civic Engagement »
Politics »
Economics »

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Age & Population

• Born between about 1980 and 2000 the next generation (Generation Y, Millennials), aged between about 11 and 30, now outnumber the baby boomer generation.
• In Canada there are approximately 12,602,901 people born between 1981 and 2000¹ (about 37% of the population²). In the United States, there are approximately 85,405,385 people born between 1981 and 2000³ (about 28% of the population).

Education

• Young Canadians have attended school in greater numbers and for longer than previous generations. The number of university graduates has increased by 24% since 2001.⁴
• Young Canadians differ from previous generations in that more young women than young men obtain post-secondary education (PSE) credentials.⁵

Work Values

• Young people believe success in a career is defined by doing meaningful work that has a positive impact on society as a whole while earning a high salary. According to one study, 30% of young people surveyed think meaningful work is important compared to only 11% of older workers; and 27% of young people think high pay is important compared to 48% of older workers.⁶
• One of the most pervasive misconceptions is that high salary is the primary motivating factor for young workers.⁷
• Young people are often willing to trade high pay for fewer billable hours, flexible schedules and a better work-life balance.
• Young people view success as something shared across an organization through flattened leadership. No matter their role, they want to provide input and even collaborate directly with the CEO if relevant.⁸
• Instead of punching time cards, young people want to be judged and rewarded based on results.⁹ Results Only Work Environments (ROWE) focused on performance, not presence, are being increasingly adopted by progressive organizations and have proven to increase productivity and reduce turnover.¹⁰
• Young people have accepted uncertainty and have learned to thrive on it. Change is good.
• 61% of employees globally believe they don’t need to be in an office to be productive.¹¹
• 40% of young people think that blogging about workplace issues is acceptable, compared to 28% of baby boomers.¹²
• 29% of young workers think work meetings to decide on a course of action are very efficient compared to 45% of boomers.¹³
• 66% of young people feel they need to gain international experience to further their careers.¹⁴
• 59% of young people would deliberately seek out employers whose corporate social responsibility values matched their own. This was down from 88% in 2008.¹⁵

Workforce

• Now in the early stages of their careers, Generation Y makes up the largest percentage of the workforce (35%) and will make up almost 75% of the world’s workforce by 2025.¹⁶
• 78% of young people think they will have five or fewer jobs over the course of their career¹⁷ and spend an average of just over two years at their first job.¹⁸
• Only a small proportion of young people (7%) work for a Fortune 500 company due to today’s economy¹⁹; instead many are starting their own businesses or are piecing together multiple jobs.²⁰
• The longevity and relevance of today’s businesses hinges on embracing the next generation’s work styles in order to tap into their creativity, innovation, customer service.²¹
• 7 is the average number of jobs a person will have by age 26.²²
• 35% of employed 18-29 year olds have started their own business on the side to supplement their income.²³

Technology

• 95% of Generation Y in the U.S. own cell phones compared to 85% of baby boomers; 70% of Generation Y own a laptop compared to 46% of baby boomers.²⁴
• The average 18 to 32 year old American spends 34 hours per week on the computer – 17 for work and 17 for personal use.²⁵
• 64% of college students ask about social media usage policies during job interviews and approximately 24% says it would be a key factor in accepting the offer.²⁶
• Email usage among 12-34 year olds declined by approximately 27% in 2009/10.²⁷

Civic Engagement

• Young people volunteer for altruistic reasons as well as pragmatic reasons – to learn new job-related skills and to enhance employment opportunities. Canadians aged 15 to 24 are more likely to volunteer (55%) than any other age group, aided by mandatory volunteer requirements for high school graduation in several provinces.²⁸
• Adults under 35 are more likely to volunteer in order to network professionally (33%) than adults 55+ years (14%).²⁹

Politics

• Youth electoral engagement in Canada is declining. Over the past five elections (from 1997 to 2008) voter turnout was 37.9% and 46.3% for males 18-24 and 25-30 respectively; and 36.6% and 47.6% for females 18-24 and 25-30 respectively. In Canada the turnout rate for new voters (those eligible to vote for the first time in an election) is now only slightly over 30%, while it used to be over 60%.³⁰
• Canadian youth believe that politics is important to their lives, but do not feel they have enough say in where the country is going.³¹
• Voter preferences among 18-29 year old Canadians are: NDP 26%; Conservative 24%; Liberal 23%; Green Party 16%; Bloc Québecois 19%; other parties 2%.³²
• A recent Pew Research Center survey found that roughly the same number of 18-to-29-year-old Americans have positive views of socialism as of capitalism. In a survey conducted in early December last year, 49 percent had a positive view of socialism, while 47 percent had a positive view of capitalism. Similarly, only 43 percent had a negative view of socialism, compared with 47 percent who had a negative view of capitalism.³³

Economics

• At ages 20 to 29, 51% of Generation Y lived at home with their parents in 2010, compared with 31% of their counterparts in Generation X.³⁴
• By 2017, consumers now in their mid-teens to mid-30s will have more spending power than any other generation³⁵ with almost $200 billion a year, according to marketing research firm Kelton Research.

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