The Implications Of COVID-19 For Younger Generations

Is the Covid-19 Pandemic about to create a lost generation? Or a surplus of untapped talent? As we move to the end of lock down, what are the implications for the future? 

With projections of national debt reaching ￡320 billion (double the figure seen following the 2008 financial crisis), it could mean austerity and increased taxation for all over many years to come.

It is known that those in the 65+ age range are the ones most affected by the virus, unfortunately accounting for over 80% of all losses of life in the UK. But I want to look at what the effects are going to be on the younger population and potential implications for future generations. The disease might have directly affected the elderly the most in a physical and acute way, but it is also affecting the younger generations in a different and far reaching way..

A tough time to be a young professional

It is being widely reported that the hardest hit age group in terms of redundancies and being furloughed has been the 18-24 year old's. It is reported up to ? of all workers in this age category are affected. 

This is an age group I’ve written about before in terms of getting on the housing ladder - I am going to highlight some of the key points below from that article, as well as some new ones. So let's look at this as a whole for the 18-24 generation - it has: 

• The highest debt leaving University and entering the workplace in history. 
• The highest house prices relative to salary in history, meaning the high likelihood of an entire generation of renters who have no choice but to line the pockets of rich construction firms or high wealth individuals, leaving a generation potentially retiring with no material assets. 
• They are the most vulnerable generation to losing their jobs in a financial crisis, stunting their earning potential in the future and prolonging any chance of getting out of the rental market or building other assets.
• After growing up as an austerity generation, there is potential for another circa 20 years (if this mimics 2008) of austerity, based on the loose assumption of double the debt, double the austerity. 
• They are also going to be coming into the workplace with a very high potential of increased taxation across the board.
• ISAs currently offer 1-2% max, meaning you get no real return on your savings. That’s if you have any savings at all..
• The potential for an average of a 1-2% wage increase a year, the lowest on average for over 50 years.
• The forecast of uninspiring Economic growth, that has been sticking at 0.5% on average for a decade, but reducing to -2% in 2020. 

Looking at it like this I believe this shows a tough hand to be dealt and is creating a perfect storm for this generation in terms of financial stability. Yes, this is as bad as it reads and is something we should all be worried about.

On the other hand...

This is a generation where we have more individuals finishing and attending higher education than ever before:

• Overall participation in higher education increased from 3.4% in 1950, to 8.4% in 1970, 19.3% in 1990 and 33% in 2000. 
• In 2018, the percentage of those leaving school to attend university hit 50%. 

The government launched the Apprenticeship Levy to help more of these individuals into work and skill them up. This is utterly fantastic, but universities and the government need to do more to make this energetic and knowledgeable resource a more attractive product to businesses and also force businesses to take a chance.

My thoughts around this:

• Increase the Apprenticeship levy tax - driving more investment in this area
• Put it into policy that businesses over a certain headcount must take more summer interns & apprentices
• Businesses should partner with Universities and third year students to propose thesis topics that are directly related to their future business needs. Driving a focused blue sky thinking and creative approach to solving business problems. 

I know all of this is done at a minimal level but pushing for more in this instance can’t be a bad thing. I am full aware that there are costs involved in the above, this is why this must be driven by government policy to ensure a level playing field for all.

You could be hiring a future leader...

So as businesses and talent professionals, what are you doing to maximise this brilliant resource? This generation is highly educated, hungry for work, and will have a want to create a better future for themselves! 

Graduates are also an asset which is cheap to start with. Yes, they will require some training and some might not hit the grade you are looking for, but some will and think of the overall quality you will end up with. It is a cost reward model that can really pay dividends after a short period of time. 

Business with a surplus of cash, now is the time to be investing in your future and what better way to do that than bringing in fresh talent that can set the business up to succeed as we come out of this crisis. There is a lot written about the X, Y & Z generations being lazy, but this is a sweeping assumption. If you give them challenging, engaging work and a clear progression strategy this definitely isn't the case. 

In the UK we have some of the greatest Universities in the world and there is a huge pool of talent waiting to be unlocked. Investment comes with risk but also the potential for huge rewards. 

We don't want to end up with a situation where we live up to a quote from Douglas Adams - “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy” where Trillian says - "with a degree in math and another in astrophysics what else was there to do? It was either that or the dole queue again on Monday"