Millennials are changing India, one decision at a time
What's the story
It is expected that within the next four years, India will have 64% of its population within the working age group, fuelling its growth.
The rise of the Indian millennial generation is being increasingly felt at every avenue of life, a generation that is ready to work harder than its predecessors and is not shy about taking risks.
Here's a brief insight.
Information
Better informed and world-smart
The Indian millennial group is sitting on a highway of information, as Morgan Stanley in its latest report notes, "The youth of this generation are better educated, better connected to information and better connected to the world."
India is adding three Internet users every second and gradually, everything is becoming digital, from entertainment to payments, thanks to the Internet-savvy modern-day millennial generation.
Shopping
Best product at the best price
A recent research cited that an Indian millennial will not buy a product on a whim, almost 89% of the millennials research online for price comparison and insight, before buying a product and 40% transact online while making the purchase.
Indian millennials have become an 'arbitrage generation' of sorts, scourging through information like a "mini stockbroker" to get the best possible outcome.
Work ethics
There are no Monday morning blues
Australian and British millennials clock 41 hours a week, Chinese millennial manage 48 hours and Indian millennial tops them all by clocking in an astounding average of 52 hours per week.
A millennial is confident of his/her worth and the same study found out that 62% of these employees were confident of getting another job in three months, if they lost their present job.
Details
Buying experiences and not things
The Indian millennial chooses not to be bogged down by the impracticality of owning a home and letting it eat through the monthly cheque, hence the "generation rent" believes in getting things on the move rather than holding on.
Everything can be rented these days, from houses to furniture and even clothes, instead of wasting significant money that can be invested elsewhere.
Tech nerds
The new age gurus of tech nirvana
Big brands like PepsiCo, Microsoft, Vodafone, and Mindtree are now keen on reverse mentoring; the idea is to tap into the geekiness of their millennial employees to explain the higher echelons a thing or two about technology.
GSK Consumer Healthcare's Anurita Chopra said, "Younger employees may not have the professional experience, but their understanding of new media and technology is vast, native and adaptive."
Sharing
Quid pro quo done right
Microsoft runs a program called 'Elevate' to bridge generation diversity between teams; HR Head of Microsoft said that "The leaders gain from an objective view of ground realities and fresh perspectives while our mentors get the opportunity to also learn from the experiences..."
Vodafone India also has a similar program called 'Digital Ninja', where millennials mentor senior leadership about various digital tools.