As one of the largest UK public sector organisations DWP is always looking to recruit the brightest and the best to work with us. Increasingly we’re noticing that the so called millennials are as demanding as we are in terms of what they expect from a job, the company they work for, and the style of working.
Millennials / Generation Y or the Net Generation
Millennials, also known as Generation Y or the Net Generation, are the demographic cohort that directly follows Generation X. Individuals who reached adulthood around the turn of the 21st century, according to ‘WhatIs.com’. Millennials grew up in an electronics-filled and increasingly online and socially-networked world. They tend to be ambitious, confident and technology savvy.
In fact what they’re looking for in a job maps pretty well with today’s Civil Service.
Since the launch of the Digital by Default agenda, government departments have seized the digital baton and are running with it. Hence the creation of new projects and new ways of working. New levels of cross-departmental co-operation and co-ordination.
For someone looking for a chance to get involved in something big there’s never been a better time to get into public sector technical work. But it’s more than the scale of opportunity that’s drawing Generation Y to what could be seen as ‘traditional’ jobs – it’s the fact that when you dig beneath the surface the jobs could have been created just for this age.
Flexibility
Flexibility is a consistent theme for millennials, not just in the way they work, but where and how.
Technology project work fits in perfectly with this, in that all the projects are:
- agile
- run from a variety of locations – Newcastle, Leeds, London
- involve different ways of working
- require collaborative work with many different teams
Today’s millennials are looking for companies that understand that money and the traditional trappings of success alone can’t buy their loyalty – they want companies that can flex to accommodate a family, caring responsibilities, or the ability to work remotely when the need arises. Firms which get it right can create a competitive advantage in securing the best staff, says China Gorman, a HR executive with over 20 years' experience.
The Civil Service is well placed to offer them this, being used to offering on-going career training, and flexible work patterns, they’re also changing what has been historically hierarchical system to a merit-based focus.
The old image of the grey-suited civil servant has largely disappeared, as teams developing online services like Universal Credit and Carer’s Allowance demonstrate. Work is only part of life, and we understand that this generation expects to get on with their career, but not at the expense of their life outside work.
Social purpose
It’s said that Generation Y is far more purpose-driven, and attracted to companies that appeal to their sense of social justice and values. What better place to work then than a department where fairness, diversity and equality are core values? In fact, employees are positively encouraged to give days back to charitable causes.
And what better incentive to do a good job than knowing your efforts will make a difference to some of the 22 million people every year that rely on DWP’s services.
Fascination with technology
Net Generation is obsessed with technology, addicted to it even; having grown up in an age of mobile phones, computers, and digital devices they’re ideally placed to envision how services could be in the future.
Their enthusiasm for new technologies will be met with interest in DWP where teams are embracing digital, blue sky thinking and new ideas.
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