Kicker: Education
Better training allows for more opportunities
Education is very important – it’s the best thing parents can do for their children. But sometimes, I think it’s just not worth it! I have two children who went through college. One of them studied engineering, but he was only able to land a job with a small salary, in a completely different field. The current job market and global economic downturn have put millennials in a difficult position and they have limited opportunities when it comes to the workplace. I think it’s a false notion that they are not willing to work hard. My second child, who graduated in accounting, spends six days a week working, and often does overtime work for no pay. Yes, at the age of 50, I am still supporting my children financially, and they are able to rely on me in that way to make ends meet, but this is not a reflection of their lack of hard work – it has more to do with the financial circumstances we are in.
My father passed away when I was 10 years old, so I have had to study and work hard to support my family and myself from a very young age. I did quite well in academics, and my teachers encouraged me to study, so I received a degree and pursued a career. Education is important in my culture, too. That’s why I want to ensure my children have a good educational background, so that they have more opportunities open to them than I ever did.
From Ms Corazon Tarcena
Secretary based in Dubai
Kicker: Experience
Stereotypes are misleading
Brad D. Smith, the CEO of American enterprise software company Intuit, once said: “Millennials and the generations that follow are shaping technology. This generation has grown up with computing in the palm of their hands. They are more socially and globally connected through mobile internet devices than any prior generation. They don’t ask questions; they just learn.”
On the contrary, another source labels millennials as lazy, entitled and narcissistic. There is no proper definition for our generation, however millennials or young adults are in the age group of 16-30. We are what older people like to call ‘the modernists’. We change tradition, set new trends and have more opportunities than previous generations. Unfortunately, we also come under a lot of scrutiny because of these reasons. Most adults over 35 have the notion that despite the many opportunities available to us, we don’t want to go the extra mile. In 2013, a study by HSBC found that parents in the Middle East shell out an average of Dh102,670 per year for their child to study at a university level.
Many would say that millennials do not consider the efforts their parents put in raising them and are too busy on their phones, but is this really the case? I admit that we grew up with fast-track services and better technology, however the problem is that we don’t meet the market’s demand. Employers in bigger businesses want to hire those who have a certain level of experience with respect to the industry. They don’t give us a chance. It’s a very stereotypical idea that today’s generation isn’t hardworking. In the UAE itself, many students take up part-time jobs during summer vacations, so that they can help with finances at home – the reason being that these jobs don’t require over 30 years of experience, which every employer usually seems to demand. When we come within the age group of 18-25, how are we supposed to meet employers’ demands of years’ worth of experience? I can assure you that millennials want to work professionally but we require cooperation from businesses to allow us to show our potential, taking into account that we do not meet their unreasonable demands for experience.
From Ms Zarniish Javed
Student based in Dubai
Kicker: Placement
Assess future job openings before enrolling for a degree
With the global economic downturn, the intrinsic link between tuition expenses and return on education has received much attention. The persistent rise in tuition costs is a global phenomenon and could be attributed to the privatisation of education, for instance, in business management and computer sciences. The demand for education has increased in developing countries due to an increase in income and a growing middle-class population. With rising tuition costs and a gloomy job scenario arises the plausible question: are we paying too much for our children’s education?
My response is negative. There are cheaper options available, such as education programs subsidised by the government. The decision to enrol in an expensive program, therefore, hinges largely on the applicant. Enrolling in a degree program for career advancement is a different proposition from the advancement of knowledge, and sometimes the latter is viewed as the primary goal. Not all students scrutinise the job market well in advance of selecting a program. Even if job placement issues are accounted for, the job scenario often changes by the time students graduate. There is also the “prestige issue” – the respect and admiration that students receive from attending expensive private schools. Although tuition costs are positively correlated with institutional prestige and reputation, the latter is just one of many factors that ultimately determine a job offer. Other factors include students’ academic performance in the program, performance in job interviews, prior work experience, presentation skills and openness to relocation.
In a nutshell, the link between tuition expenses and high unemployment due to a gloomy job market is somewhat complex and the negative perception about rising tuition costs solely due to a large number of unemployed graduates must be viewed with caution. With constant transformation in the labour market, it is important for students to regularly reassess possible future job openings before enrolling in a degree program. At the other end, colleges charging high tuition fees must implement measures to extend placement services to students and improve the placement rates for fresh graduates.
From Mr Rajarshi Mitra
Assistant professor at the Higher School of Economics, in Russia
Kicker: Generation gap
Millennials have never really struggled to get where they are
The culture of millennials at work is so different today – traits like obedience and respect for superiors at the workplace are completely missing. Earlier, employees had different motivations. For instance, a person would work hard so that he could support his family and take care of his parents’ financial burdens. Now, millennials are able to fall back on their parents for support if they don’t find work, or don’t feel like working in certain companies. The previous generation didn’t have that luxury.
I feel future generations will have a very tough time in the workplace. In my company, we have a lot of young people working, and I often notice that their attitude towards work is very different from ours. Most are too involved with their smartphones and look to the internet for answers rather than thinking or consulting with others. Many young employees have never really struggled for the position they are in, so they take it too casually. We used to work in a very dedicated way, and didn’t mind long hours or the challenges that came with our job. With young people, I’m not so sure how they would cope with such situations. Unless they come from a background where their parents have talked about their work and discussed the ways they met challenges, these young people would have no idea how to deal with difficult situations. But of course, for new graduates, I wouldn’t expect them to come to work knowing everything. I would hire them based on their degree and skills, and would mould them to my job requirements. When training young people, I do find a bit of resistance, but that’s only because their approach to work is very different.
Parents will still have to continue paying exorbitant amounts for their children’s education. I don’t think they can do much about it because this has more to do with micro-economics than anything else. The current job market also cannot be helped and parents will just have to wait things out. For instance, I currently get 40 to 50 resumes every day, but there is no position available in my company, and I have to turn them down. Similarly, when I did my Master’s degree in business several years ago, I paid Rs60,000 (Dh3,283) but now, one would have to spend a lot more. It’s just how the world is now. It is a necessary evil to pay a lot more for education – but more people have disposable incomes these days, and would like to afford the very best for their children.
From Mr Mohsin Ahmad
Director of a steel fabrication company, based in Dubai
