It has always struck me that the industry has a severe lack of young people working in it. I’m 23, started at 17. I was always told that that was such a young age to start in this industry. I never really understood why.
As I have grown up working in this industry, I have begun to see and understand that in every area of our industry, there is a lack of people my age working. Except of course @eco_sash, think he’s my age or a year younger! For example, all the reps that visit our office are easily late 30’s or over 40. The same goes for most of the suppliers we deal with (no offence), most are middle aged and I haven’t seen any new blood coming through the ranks.
When it comes to organizations like the GGF and FENSA, it is perceived that these are run by the dusty old regimes that started them in the first place, with a train of thought and plans which date back to when they started. Though I will point out that I think the GGF is planning new blood coming through.
It’s a strange industry in this respect. In other industries and sectors there is such a focus on getting new, young people into work all the time. Take banking for example. Whenever I visit one the staff I deal with are young, even the bank managers are only slightly older than me! The same can be said for doctors, police, artists, musicians etc etc.
Youth is good. Youth brings energy which will always boost a business if their staff are getting on a bit. Youth brings new ideas and creativity. Staff that have been there a while can sometimes become trapped in routine and struggle to adapt. Youth doesn’t know routine and is freer to be more creative and adapt to change.
Youth will help change our biggest organizations like the GGF and FENSA to bring them up to date with a very different industry to when they were first created. Youth will also make them appear more approachable to the industry and improve the image. There’s no doubt that a lot of us think these places are run by dinosaurs.
Lets get some more young blood in this industry. It will give us a boost, get some fresh energy and ideas in the place. It will help provide opportunities for the young and unemployed, like apprenticeships are doing.
What I would like to know is if there are any businesses out there who are actively looking to take on young people and if they agree with the benefits I have explained above.
Don’t forget that with age comes experience! ;-) But seriously it is good to see new blood coming through now. However don’t forget all the hard work, time and experience that some (Older) individuals have given freely to make improvements in our industry over the years. For example, the non exec board members at the GGF are all unpaid and give of their time and resources freely and with enthusiasm. They are often a little older because they have built a stable business and put good managers in place so that they can now use some of their time to… Read more »