The willingness of Irish graduates to work abroad is an asset for employers, writes Caroline Madden

COMPANIES HOPING to exploit overseas markets can keep costs down by harnessing the potential of footloose younger workers who are keen to travel, according to a new survey.

A global survey Millennials at Work: Perspectives of a New Generationpublished by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) found that graduates who have recently joined the workforce are very much open to overseas assignments, and expect to work internationally at some point in their career. Some 88 per cent of Irish graduates said that they would like to work overseas, with their preferred destinations being the US and Australia.

“Irish employers cite expansion into new markets to make up for the lack of domestic opportunities as one of the biggest business opportunities, as well as challenges,” says Mark Carter, partner in PwC Ireland HR services. “The clear willingness of Irish graduates to work abroad should be capitalised on by more Irish employers seeking to exploit new markets.”

According to Henk van Cappelle, PwC’s European HR services leader, mobile workers are an increasingly valuable asset to organisations. The willingness of “millennials” (individuals who entered the workforce after July 1st, 2000) to travel on overseas assignments could lead to “greater movement between countries at more junior employee levels”, he predicts.

This would reduce the cost burden associated with incentivising senior executives to work abroad. However, despite their willingness to work in foreign countries, the research suggests that Irish millennials lack the linguistic skills of their international peers. Some 70 per cent of all respondents said that they expect to use a second language during their career, compared to just one quarter of Irish respondents. While this finding may be partly explained by the prevalence of English in the business world, their reluctance to use other languages at work could put Irish millennials at a disadvantage.

Another interesting finding is that three times as many millennials surveyed rank benefits such as training and personal development more highly than other, more tangible, perks like cash bonuses.

Carter explains the benefits of assigning mentors to new recruits: “Most businesses only provide coaches and mentors to senior employees, but providing this kind of one-to-one development to new graduates could help ease the sometimes bumpy transition from university to the workplace, while breeding goodwill and engagement at a relatively low cost.

“The question we would ask is – are business leaders out there really attuned to the importance of training and development to this generation?” he continues, “because in our experience, training and development is often the first thing to be cut in the budget in times of downturn.”

Instead of indiscriminately slashing their training and development budget, he advises organisations to be more precise when making cutbacks. “Obviously there are short-term pressures at the moment but the businesses that will survive and prosper are the ones which continue to look at the long-term future as well,” he adds.

Another study carried out by PwC revealed that more than 60 per cent of global chief executives find it difficult to attract and integrate younger people into their organisation.

“There is still a disconnect between what they perceive that younger workers want, and what the younger workers actually want,” explains Carter. Part of the rationale of conducting the millennials study was to provide business leaders with some insight into what the workers of the future really want.

Apart from providing new recruits with the types of benefits and development opportunities that they value, and giving them the opportunity to work internationally, employers must have a strong, socially responsible brand, he says. The survey found that millennials expect their employer to behave responsibly, and 75 per cent of Irish graduates said that they will seek out employers with social values that meet their own.

“The millennials want many of the same things from work as the generations before them, so companies do not need to tear up their people strategies to manage the new generation of workers,” notes van Cappelle. “What is new is younger people’s ability to mobilise more quickly into another job if their expectations and ideals are not met.”

After several years of talent shortages in the recruitment sphere, the economic downturn has shifted the power back to employers, but Carter predicts that in the future, because of factors such as ageing populations, the power will return to workers. “People supply will be the critical factor for business success, and that will lead to a change in the power dynamics between employers and employees,” he says. “The businesses that will really prosper are the ones that understand how to attract [young] people and how to retain them.”

The Millennials at Work report is based on a survey of 4,271 individuals in 44 different countries, including Ireland. The majority of respondents were graduates starting work for PwC