The Life of Y: Engaging Millennials as Employees and Consumers

1st prize in the DMA-NTPC Management Book Awards, 2018.

Currently, we have about 2 billion millennials in the world, aged between 17 and 37 years, who are fast becoming the world’s most important generational cohort in terms of consumer spending growth, sourcing of employees and overall economic prospects. Engaging this cohort for businesses, societies and nations is no more a matter of choice.

The 2016 millennial survey by Deloitte on millennials has alarming news for companies the world over. Majority of the millennials or Gen Y workers are likely to change their companies by 2020. While the world over similar trends are visible, India ranks third where the probability of Gen Y workers leaving their current companies is maximum. The survey also points to the fact that this lack of loyalty may be a sign of neglect that millennials might be facing in their organizations. Such poor levels of engagement of millennial workers in India and rest of the world are a huge red flag for all companies. Poor engagement will not only have cost implications but also have huge negative implications on the growth, profitability and sustainability of companies, especially when the going is not particularly easy for most of the industry sectors.

This book attempts to create a deep empathy for millennials and is a result of the author’s extensive research spanning almost a decade. The book dives deep into the life of Generation Y and seeks to create an unbiased understanding about this generation, thereby exploding the perceptual myths and stereotypes about them. Based on the research, the book suggests a new strategy to engage with the millennial generation in the workplace and marketplace in particular and the society in general. It provides a consultative guidance to engaging millennials seeking to replace the old models and designs of engagement.

Debashish (Deb) Sengupta works as Associate Professor (SL) and Course Leader (International Business & Management) at University of Portsmouth, London. Deb is the winner of two prestigious national-level awards for his research and writing, in India and in Bahrain. His book ’The Life of Y’ won the first prize at DMA-NTPC business book awards for the year 2018-19. His research project on role and motivations of young women volunteers during Covid-19 won the ’Best Research Project in the Kingdom of Bahrain’ award for the year 2022-23. His book The Life of Y has been featured in the collections of Stanford University. Deb is a well-known researcher and author in the area of young people at work and has several acclaimed books, research articles and digital artefacts to his credit, that have been widely read and used.