Youth is a time for fun. In one American playground in Florida, there are
basketball courts and volleyball nets. Inside, there are bright colours, Nerf
guns and a games room with pingpong. This is not a school, but the offices
of Capital One, one of America’s largest credit-card firms. The firm gives
each department a monthly “fun budget”. The same sort of thing can be
found across corporate America these days. The kids have taken over. It is
technology that drives business today, and dot.com culture is everywhere.
The young are now the rising power in the workplace.
The Microsoft, a business with 40,000 mostly young employees: the dress
code is “anything goes as long as you’re clean”. People wear shorts and have
blue hair – sometimes even in management. The typical workplace scene
features mid-afternoon hockey, video games and techno music on
headphones.
Companies want to attract and keep a younger workforce because of its
technical skills and enthusiasm for change. So youth culture is becoming part
of office culture. This may be no bad thing. Along with the company fun
budget come things that matter more deeply to young people: opportunity,
responsibility, respect.
In the past, it was middle-aged who ruled. At work, grey hair, years of loyal
service and seniority counted most. Now things are changing. Older workers
will not disappear, but they will have to share power with the young. In the
old days companies grew slowly; with success came conservative corporate
values. Now the world’s largest firms can crash at any moment. The pace of
change is increasing. And change favours the young: They learn and relearn
faster and will risk more to try new things.
Many companies no longer have seniority-based hierarchies. People can get
to the top faster. They don’t have to spend years showing respect for their
superiors. It is more important that they are able to understand e-business
and have the courage to ask “why?” Loyalty to the company is less important
than talent. Employees stay only when there are challenges and rewards.
Changing jobs frequently is now a sign of ambition and initiative.
All this is a good thing. Young people are at their most creative stage in life.
Now they have more opportunity to put their ideas and energy into practice.