Gen Y 

The Growth of Gen Y in China and India 

Emerging trends that will define the future of work — and the workplace

In early 2010, Steelcase conducted surveys of Gen Y in China and India, the next generation that is beginning to enter the workforce in the two fastest growing economies in the world. The impact and the clout they will exert in the workplace are clear in the numbers: Gen Y accounts for 218 million people in China and 426 million in India. Gen Y is set to become the dominant force in shaping these emerging markets, driving major changes in work attitudes and behavior, and have a dramatic global impact on the way we all work and live over the next 20 years.

Our Gen Y research helps us to understand the approach of Gen Y in China and India to work and life, what motivates them and what they need to succeed, giving us insights into designing the most suitable working environment in both the short and medium term. Steelcase has previously conducted Gen Y research in the United States, which provided a benchmark for the new study.

Both the quantitative and qualitative results highlight the need to accommodate the way Gen Y relates to other workers in their own and older generations, their approach to organizations, their expectations from work, as well as the ways they actually work.

Key shifts – critical starting points
The surveys identified 7 key shifts in India and 6 key shifts in China that are at the heart of the impact these new workers will have in the workplace over the next 20 years, and the characteristics they have in common. They include qualities like open-minded, confident and tech-savvy. These key shifts will inform Steelcase’s design principles, serving as a provocative point of departure for new thinking about the next generation of work-life environments, tools, ways of working and behavior in the workplace.