The 80ies: the new working generation of China
When I was giving workshops in China this August, I had many possibilities of encountering the new working generation and to get to know their perspectives better. They were born in the 80ies and have experienced “the way up” of China. They have grown up in the time that is best described by the slogan “higher, faster, better”. The many Chinese that access the market at the same time leads to a huge competition, which requests a high performance to stand out of the crowd. Improved teaching systems and the access to worldwide information as internet users lead to a better and more critical judgement of events in their own country as well as abroad.
These changes lead to the 80ies
- feeling superior to their parents which leads to more controversial discussions and
- requesting more from potential employers.
They expect exiting work content, a fast career and a salary increase which is unknown in Europe. Patience might have been a virtue in former times – the 80ies would like to increase the pace of change as they find it too slow! They talk of the years until 35 as their “trial & error” time. Until the age of 35 they expect to make as many experiences in different companies and diverse jobs to then decide which company to stay at, marry and get a child.
