BackHow millennials are coping with the crisis of the century
The fifth round of the YouGov-Mint-CPR Millennial Survey shows the views on working from home are split along the middle
PremiumThe pandemic has disrupted almost every aspect of people’s lives. For those in the early years of their career, or just about to step into a job, it has been an especially stressful period.
How did young workers cope with job losses and salary cuts? Has work-from-home made life easier or tougher? Have young workers fared better than the old? Are they more hopeful about the future?
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The fifth round of the YouGov-Mint-CPR Millennial Survey asked these and other such questions to roughly 10,000 respondents from 203 cities and towns.
The answers paint a picture of devastation and resilience. It shows pockets of hope and despair.
The survey shows that the youngest and the least affluent workers have suffered the brunt of layoffs. Yet, many of them remain hopeful about finding a new job and improving their finances in the New Year. The older generations saw fewer job cuts but remain more worried about whether they would be able to find new jobs in an environment where companies prefer to have an ‘agile’ workforce.
There is another divide as well, across income classes. Richer and professionally educated workers suffered less during the pandemic and remain more hopeful. Their poorer, less-educated counterparts are much more worried about the future.
Successive rounds of the YouGov-Mint-CPR Millennial Survey have aimed to study the choices and outlook of an important demographic group in one of the world’s youngest economies.
Millennials refer to those born between 1981 and 1996 (aged 24-39 years now). Together, millennials and post-millennials (aged 23 years or below) account for roughly half of India’s adult population, and will increasingly determine the direction in which India’s economy and polity moves.
The latest survey conducted online in October and November found that working from home has increased workload for many. Balancing office and personal life has become tough. Yet, a large section of respondents, especially among the young, said that their mental health has improved over the past few months.
Overall, the views on working from home are split along the middle; while 55% of the respondents said that they did not enjoy working from home and would wish to get back to the office, the remaining 45% want the work-from-home option to continue.
These and other insights from the survey will feature in a five-part data journalism series to be published in Mint starting today.
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