A young, unfamiliar tribe: what kind of Ukraine will the Y generation build?

In Ukrainian political thought, a popular point of view is that all our troubles are from the older generation. They say, the "scoops" will die out, the Soviet reality will disappear with them, and then young Ukrainians will build a qualitatively different state. The thought is interesting, although not new. In the 20s and 30s, the USSR explained to the workers why communism does not work and it is necessary to kill the "enemies of the people". With a known result. However, the problem is that none of the thinkers thought to ask the generation of young Ukrainians: what do they want? What are they in general? Fortunately, life has already given an answer to this question. You can draw conclusions.

Y — what is this?

Generation Y, also known as "millennials", are people born at the very beginning of the rise of the USSR and at the beginning of the formation of Ukraine. That is, approximately 1984-2001. Those who were not accepted in October. Who grew up during permanent economic shocks and entered adult life in the middle or end of the "zero" years. The first generation that broke out of the Soviet cultural matrix. Now these people are 18-35 years old, this is the main personnel reserve of the nation.

Pros and Cons

Let's give the word to the expert. Kyiv marketer and coach Anastasia Myroshnyk mark ruthlessly and exhaustively characterizes generation Y, dividing the characteristic features into pros and cons.

PROS:

➕ High level of emotional intelligence;

➕ As a rule, pleasant in society. Polite;

➕ Less traumatized by the harsh nineties (from those born in the nineties);

➕ Cute;

➕ This generation is in touch with its values.

MINUSES:

➖ Little skilled;

➖ There is no desire to work with your hands and make a career from the lower levels. Many want to immediately take a managerial position;

➖ Often irresponsible;

➖ Low-initiative;

➖ Difficult to motivate;

➖ They want to work less and earn more;

➖ It is not always possible to earn more, so they dump the market;

➖ Unstable. They can leave the project simply because "it became boring", "it's not mine", "I went to myself";

➖ They can be wounded. This is the flip side of a high level of emotional intelligence.

What can be added to this characteristic: Generation Y grew up on the Internet. Someone discovered it in high school, someone from a young age, but the Internet had an impact on everyone. The formation of personality alone with the screen has led to a high degree of narcissism among millennials. All of them ("we") consider themselves exceptional and unique, looking at the wrong land from the window of a high castle. Such a way of thinking is both a powerful internal resource for growth and a serious vulnerability that can be exploited by experienced manipulators.

It is gratifying that young Ukrainians are exceptionally nice people, who follow their dreams and do not carry a suitcase of complexes from childhood. This is good, if only because it narrows the possibilities of psychological manipulation of young people.

However, Ukraine enters 2020 with extreme wear and tear of all structures. Legislation, the structure of the state apparatus, public relations, infrastructure, law enforcement agencies — everything needs deep, systematic and wise modernization. Who will deal with it? I often hear the opinion that this is precisely what millennials will be. Well, well...

There is no dispute, the high emotional intelligence of young people will be a plus, but there are problems with motivation, stability, the unimportant baggage of acquaintances and skills...

What does this all look like? To the Verkhovna Rada of the current convocation. And what is the average age of "Servants of the People" deputies? Oh. Prime Minister? Oh oh

We are not discussing the distant future of Ukraine, but what is happening to us now. Moreover, the cadre of "servants" is another boundary between generations. Pure, unadulterated millennials will follow. Generation Y has already come to power, but still does not know what to do with it. Not the best combination, and certainly not a reason for inflated expectations.

How millennials will vote

Generation Y refers to consumer policies. That is, it looks not at the values ​​that our "talking heads" declare, but at what value they see in themselves. This is similar to the employment process: who praised better at the interview, who promised more, who has the best resume. This pragmatic approach in the "short game" opens the way for "green" populist politicians, but in the long game politicians will have to evolve towards clear and very specific promises that will have to be fulfilled.

Why so, it is not difficult to understand. Generation Y grew up in the conditions of a thirty-year lie of absolutely all Ukrainian politicians, and no longer believes a single word. For them, a politician is an instrument for solving specific problems, not a visionary and a navigator. It's more bad than good, but millennials aren't to blame for growing up on the garbage heap. This is a question for those who grew up.

This question will be asked because Generation Y is very critical of the previous generation, and it will be very difficult to "sell" a politician over forty years old to him.

How to make them work

The characteristics of Anastasia (which I share, because I work with "Greeks", and I myself was born in 1984) show that Generation Y able to give beautiful fruits in a greenhouse built for them. That is, in a stable coordinate system, with a mentor and without unnecessary stress.

If Generation Y faces difficulties, it collects suitcases and puts them down. Literally, the pace of labor migration is so high, precisely because young people go to work and study in Europe. They won't come back, don't even hope.

Oksana, project manager of an Internet marketing agency, shares her advice:

Motivation with money and material goods does not work with millennials. They are free people who do not cling to the usual way of life and are open to everything new. You can't keep them with a promotion. They don't get into a mortgage, they don't dream of saving up for a car - it doesn't matter to them. And here "global" motivation works. Ecology, benefit to society, charity. They can be "caught" for this.

That is, to work Generation Y must be connected gradually and, at least for the first time, protecting from stress. They should also understand why they need all this. Not in the sense of career growth, but "in general". Otherwise, the young talent will run away from the career ladder into deep downshifting, after which it will be necessary to hire a new millennial and start all over again. Moreover, as already written above, the meaning of existence for a millennial does not come from the Ukrainian political system. Any ideas of politicians are accepted at bayonets.

The main word in "Sdelaem ikh vmeste" is a pronoun. Millennials, who overwhelmingly vote for Zelensky, are very sensitive to such oppositions.

In this case, according to a number of indicators Generation Y a head higher than the previous generation. It treats itself more rationally, respects other people's boundaries, appreciates good treatment, knows how to arrange the space around them. The degree of tension in society will definitely decrease when these people enter the full power. After all, they know what they want, know how to listen to others and negotiate.

But young people have big problems with system work, therefore, you should not expect a new tax code, pension reform or radical restructuring of the state apparatus from millennials. This is what the generation of those who are now 35-55 should deal with - this age group does better with systematic thinking, with the quality of education, with a willingness to plow for wear. Don't wait for them to do it for you. It is necessary to plow. Otherwise, it will never be done. Including because the outgoing generation discredits not only itself, but also the very idea of ​​Ukraine. This cannot be allowed.

What will happen next?

From the positive: the so-called generation of children born at the end of the zeroes and tens Generation Z, is already really interesting from the point of view of state construction. These children have a thirst for knowledge, a willingness to work systematically, persistence and good anger. Therefore, there is no doubt that the future of Ukraine is cloudless. You just have to live. Only twenty years, and today's schoolchildren will build a strong and honest Ukraine.

In the meantime, we need to work so that these twenty years we lived without big shocked.

Denis Skorbylin