These concerns about young service technicians are understandable, as the job is often associated with many trips and stays abroad, which usually do not lead to the attractive metropolises of this world, to which a millenial would perhaps like to travel privately. Then there is the pressure from the end customer, who wants his machine serviced or repaired as quickly as possible. Time and performance pressure therefore accompany almost every service technician on his travels. Who wants to work on a stressed-out customer in a small town - let's say in China - during the day, with whom he can hardly communicate and spend his time in a cheap hotel in the evening? While Generation X (the 1960 to 1980 born) could be compensated for these strains as a service technician with a good monetary reward, this is less and less easy with the Millenials. The reasons are many and varied and some of them can be found in the following graph, which is taken from the study The 2016 Millennial Survey🔗 of Deloitte and that shows the work motivation of the Generation Y.
Motivation of young people to choose a job
Opportunities to progress/ be leaders |
16,1%
|
Flexibility, i.e., remote working, flexible hours |
13,4%
|
Sense of meaning from my work |
9,3%
|
Professional development training programs |
8,3%
|
The impact it has on society |
6,8%
|
The quality of its products/services |
6,4%
|
Strong sense of purpose |
6,2%
|
Opportunities for international travel |
5,9%
|
Fast growing / dynamic |
4,4%
|
A leading company that people admire |
4,3%
|
Uses the latest technologies |
4,1%
|
The reputation of its leaders |
3,1%
|
Many of the reasons given here for choosing an employer or a job are not compatible with a position as a service technician. There is no positive work-life balance on stressful service assignments, no flexible working hours or the opportunity to work from the "home office". In particular, the meaningfulness of work activity plays a particularly important role for Generation Y. And this is especially not the case with service missions in the event of machine malfunctions and the like, if the problem could have been diagnosed and rectified remotely. However, this usually only turns out afterwards and does not contribute positively to work satisfaction. And also an ever-increasing environmental consciousness of the younger generations leads to the rejection of unnecessary travel activities, which today are connected to a large extent with the production of climate-damaging CO2 - no matter if the way to the place of action is covered by car, train or airplane. In addition, machines and systems are becoming increasingly complex and place high demands on the qualifications of service technicians. In most cases, this means that regular consultation with the engineering department or other specialist departments is required during a service assignment in order to understand problems in a complex system and then be able to solve them.