Labour Forum experts have discussed ambitious objectives of Generation Z
How should twenty-year-olds tune themselves to ever-changing working conditions? What set of abilities should a young professional have?
Company executives, HR specialists, as well as representatives of public and state organisations answered these and other questions within the discussion “Work is ... View of Generation Z” at the St Petersburg International Labour Forum.
The meeting participants paid special attention to the value orientations of young workers. “When we talk about generations in companies and on the labour market, we talk not just about an educational process. We also talk about the effectiveness and economic consequences of the interaction of people of different ages. First of all, this is due to the fact that different values, motives and incentives are commonly found in different generations,” said Olga Nikiforova, the session moderator, Associate Professor, St Petersburg University.
She also emphasised that the younger generation needs a properly built and substantial ecosystem.
Nowadays, young people are not thankful only for material values. This trend is also seen in all other areas: business, politics, and social activities.
Olga Nikiforova, the session moderator, Associate Professor, St Petersburg University
One of the most controversial questions is whether it is enough for a young worker to have a higher education. Some discussants are confident that today employees are supposed to study all the time and expand a set of their competencies. For example, Aleksei Kurlov, the Director of the Centre of Technologies for Corporate and Public Administration, the North-West Institute of Management of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), believes that if it used to be enough to get one good education, today it is not so.
Our aim is to study all the time. In my opinion, in the near future employers will stake on specialists who are experts in many areas.
Aleksei Kurlov, the Director of the Centre of Technologies for Corporate and Public Administration, the North-West Institute of Management of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA)
Other experts, including representatives of high-tech enterprises, on the contrary, set a high value on high-quality higher education of jobseekers. They also pay no attention to the fact that many recruitment services have already withdrawn such an item from CVs.
“Some time ago, our company moved from Moscow to St Petersburg. One of the reasons why did this was that St Petersburg University and other universities in St Petersburg turn out highly skilled science specialists. High-quality basic education makes it possible for future specialists to do anything from advanced scientific research to journalism and public relations,” says Alexandra Glazkova, Vice-president for HR, PR and administrative issues at Biocad.
Other discussants included: Sergei Sochnev, Phoenix Education CEO; Maksim Nikitinskii, the founder of the business cluster “Delo”; Daria Shchurik, the Head of the youth movement “Potentsial” in St Petersburg; and Nikita Tretiakov, the Head of career accelerator for students and young professionals “Leader Cup”.