The EIIL’s 2013 survey ‘Leading the Connected Generation’ (1) highlighted that a career path offering real responsibility as well as personal skills development might be one way for industry to attract Generation C talent into its apparently dull, dirty, dangerous and sometimes distant workplace. It also highlighted that career building entry level and middle management roles seem destined to disappear.
In the EIIL’s 2013 survey, industry leaders and Generation C members debated the changing nature of both employment expectations and industrial workplace evolution. The survey proposed that a varied and interesting career path, with opportunities to develop personal skills and experiences, in real jobs with real responsibility, was a necessary, though not sufficient, weapon in the competition for Generation C talent. At the same time it also identified that many entry level and subsequent development roles were under threat as computer power is increasingly used to automate these positions.
Against this background, the EIIL’s tenth annual Leaders of Industry survey is seeking industry opinion on how to align the two themes of last year’s survey. How can industry create structured career development in the future?
To identify and share good practices in planning careers to attract Generation C and develop them into the leaders of the future, the EIIL will interview senior leaders across European Industry in 2014. The results will be debated at four working conferences in London, Munich, Den Haag and Brussels entitled ‘Careers for the Connected Generation’.
This survey will contribute to the Institute’s ongoing research to help understand the trends and provide the essential information to help European industry attract, develop and retain Engineers and Technical Professionals.