Generation Y

1 May 2010 - With all the attention for Shanghai this week, there is a great article in the SCMP about the mainlands' Generation Y. Today's teenagers and twenty-somethings (about 240 million people) will one day be the pillar of the workforce, but most elderly don't think much of the young generation. There is an interview with a fashion store manager, who complaints that it is difficult to communicate with the youngsters, as he is in near constant culture-shock. Many of his staff communicate almost silently most of the time, through short messaging or by computer. Their needs go beyond money, and they resign with the change of the wind. At one stage he planned a "motivation-tour" to Hong Kong, but nobody was interested as most had already been there before. He says "Fewer and fewer young people want to work in the shop. They don't have to worry about earning a living because their parents have worked hard and earned enough for them."