Problem Statement: Millennials will face an entirely different set of problems, even though technological advancement will bring exciting new opportunities. The recent findings reveal that significant skepticism about the U.S. (Global!) economy growth is dominant as per the survey conducted by National Association for Business Economic. As a result of the survey, 75 percent of the participated economists expect the next global recession by 2021. The question, then, arises: what could be the understanding of importance of future of skills for the millennials?
The Big Picture: The takeaway from the discussion is obvious. Millennials are not able to build their empire as like their previous generations. They have started to enter the global workforce amid one of the biggest economic recession since Great Depression, hence their future economic decision will be formed by the historic turmoil in financial, labor market and other set of perspectives. The graph 1 explicitly articulates that millennials are reaching adulthood in an era of lower growth than baby boomers and generation X. In addition to that, the graph 2 reveals how amassing wealth of Millennials is way lower than previous generations.
Graph 1: GDP Growth Trend
Graph 2: Income Survey
On the other hand, research reveals that Millennials are stand out when compared with previous generations. In other word, as young adults, Millennials are more educated then previous generations. In today’s business environment, having bachelor’s degree is not enough to have a financial success. Hence, Millennials are instinctively forced to develop themselves armed with lifelong learning philosophy.
Graph 3: Pew Research Center – Education Analysis
Other Facts: Since Millennials are not able to pay their student loans, buy new houses, start new business and spend money like their previous generations, global economy is obviously slowing down. Home ownership ratio of Millennials is 8 percent lower than previous generations. Student loan debt is around $2 trillion. All these facts are the proof that Millennials are not ready for the next global recession
Possible Solutions: Bear in mind that we might even breath the next recession from now. There is only one way of getting out from this mess which is decoding future of skills. Governments, society and Millennials should understand the facts of the future of skills which will be mainly based on new type of capitalism: “Crowd-based capitalism”. Workforce puzzle will dramatically change. Independent employment will flourish gig economy. Under this circumstance, governments and educational institutions should rethink of their educational infrastructure and invest heavily in universities and colleagues to prepare their workforce for this upcoming future challenge. Continuous education or life-long learning will be essential for Millennials towards understanding of the concepts in future of skills; hence it will help them to be ready for the next global recession.
For more information about the future of skills, please visit the previous article that was written by the author.