Why you should hire me! (And other young people like me)

Top 8 Reasons why companies should hire more young people  

Going back to what I was talking about last week, and how people are worried about all the “young” and “inexperienced” MPs elected in the last election, I thought I would write about why more companies should hire young people. Like me! 

Here are the reasons I think that stand out the most:

1. The economy needs your help!

Although Canada is believed to be coming out of the recession, unemployeement is still high across the country and according to recent reports, it's around 7.7% across the country. Much higher than it was pre-2008, but at least not as bad as mid-2009, where it hovered around 8.7%. As you can see from the graphs below, part-time work is way up, but those illusive full-time jobs are still not as high as in 2008.


Statistics Canada. (March 2011). Labour Force Information.

Of course unemployement varies depending on a million different factors, such as region, sex, ethnic background and age. But as a group, young people are the most unemployed group (next to those living in the Territories). Hiring more young people (who are also more likely to spend the money they make than save it) will help stimulate the economy. You’re welcome!

2. Those Baby Boomers won’t be working forever! (Or so they say…)

We all know that the population is aging and as Baby Boomers, (those born between between 1946 and 1964) creep towards retirement it means that close to one-third of the country's 32 million people will be out of the labour market.

According to StatsCan, by 2036 the median age of the population in Canada will be between 42 and 45 years old. This means that seniors will account for between 23% and 25% of the total population! With the working-age population (those 15 to 64 years old) declining from about 70% to about 60% in that time frame, companies need to make sure they have hired and adequately trained employees to take over senior management and executive positions, or they could face a huge “knowledge gap”. Why not start hiring young people before your company reaches crisis levels?? I want to be a manager/executive/VP one day...hire me!

3. In with the new, out with the old (ideas that is)

Inexperience on paper, doesn't mean inexperience in life. And although many people don’t think young people have the skills, dedication and drive to get things done, it doesn’t take long to find young people who have made a big difference in business and society. Besides Mark Zuckerberg who created Facebook when he was only 20 and Shawn Fanning, who created the first popular Peer-to-Peer sharing sites Napster at only 18, there are many examples of people who had a great new idea and ran with it, all before they turned 30. Check out a great list of the Top 30 under 30 here. Here are some examples:

Would you hire this man?

• In technology: Michael Dell, who created the successful computer company Dell at age 19.
• In culture: Hugh Hefner, who launched Playboy magazine when he was 27 and is just as famous today, at 85 years old.
• In fashion: Ralph Lauren, who launched his clothing line, one of the most iconic labels in fashion, at age 28.
• In sports: Mark Cuban Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, sold his first company at 33 for $6 million.
• Internet: Of course you can’t forget Sergey Brin & Larry Page of Google fame, who started the company when they were 33.

So maybe the next young person you hire wont be the next Ralph Lauren, but it couldn’t hurt to give them a shot! You could be famous by association!

4. That new thing you just heard about? They’ve known about it for weeks

Most jobs today require a lot of computer work, if not exclusively working with the internet and programs such as Word and Excel. That’s one of the great things about hiring a young person, most of them are at ease with learning new technology. If they don’t already know how to use a program, they can learn! And mostly like they can figure it out quickly, without too much help. So don’t worry about holding “training sessions” or “technology seminars” to help them learn how to use basic programs, they can figure it out. And if you’re business uses Social Media in any form, you can bet your new young person will be on top of (at least know about) all the latest trends. So give a young person a chance, they can handle it. Maybe you will even learn something!

 5. They will pretend to like you, even if they don’t

Once you give the right new person a chance, they will be happy to win your approval. Data entry for 6 hours straight, even though they were hired to work in the creative department? Sure, no problem! Staying late to get those reports in before deadline? Of course! And all with a smile, since they are sure that one day all their hard work will be rewarded. That’s how the world works, right? Anything they can do to slowly climb up the corporate ladder. Of course this attitude won’t last forever, but with promises of wage increases, extra bonuses or maybe just even a pat on the back, young people will be eager to please for weeks to come. Especially since many of them have huge amounts of student debt to pay off, the more work the better!

Interesting fact, if you type in “young people sucking up” into Google Images, you will find a picture of Mark Zuckerberg. True story.

6. There is less holding them back

Related to the last point about young people working hard, is that even if they don’t want to do all that extra work you assigned them, they probably don’t have too many reasons to say no. Unless you count a beach volley ball session with friends after work, or going out of town to attend that awesome music festival happening on the weekend. Which, yes, are important things in the life of a young person, but not the same as the obligations older people have. Young people probably don’t have kids, or spouses to take up their free time and goodness knows they don’t have to worry about in-laws or important house repairs.

At the Y Combinator Startup School event at Stanford in May 2007 Mark Zuckerberg said to the audience “Young people just have simpler lives. We may not own a car. We may not have family.” In the absence of those distractions, he says, you can focus on big ideologies. Later he added:

Running shoes with jeans? Really?

“Simplicity in life allows you to focus on what’s important.”

Obviously this is work in Zuckerberg’s case, since it’s definitely not fashion.

Sure, one negative about young people is that they don’t always dress the part, but they can learn. Zuckerberg is a good example of this, as he is notorious for showing up to black tie events and important functions in no more than jeans and a T-shirt. He was even a winner in Esquire’s 2010 Celebrity Style Hall of Shame. (See more of his “geek chic” fashion choices here.) But I'm sure it won't be long until we see him in at least a nice jacket, and some better shoes. Young people are nothing, if not adaptable!

7. They know young people!

Finally, in today’s youth obsessed culture, who better to tap into the ever important 18-29 demographic than young people! They know what they like, what they don’t and what will work in terms of marketing. They know the best ways to reach people like them, and who influences their decisions the most. All you need to do is (hire a young person like me) and ask!

8. Oh, and you can pay them less. But don’t. If you can help it.

Enough said

So please, when you see a young person’s resume, please don’t discard it just because they don’t have the required 2-5 years related experience. Or because they only graduated last month. Or any of the other silly preconceived notions you have about young people. Hire the right young person and they will be a huge asset to your team. I promise you will thank me one day!

Do you have any other reasons to hire young people? Post them in the comments below. I'm sure I missed some!