Young employees feel forgotten by employers

Young workers are feeling isolated after spending 18 months working from home due a lack of communication with their employers.

A new report found one in four employees aged between 18 and 24 have been working in their bedroom while living at home or isolating in a flat or house share with strangers.

These young employees reportedly feel let down by the lack of time their employer has spent checking in on them, as just 37% have had regular check-ins from their boss since working remotely.

Employers need to be more considerate of how their young employees have been working during the pandemic. While it will be some time before we understand the true cost of the pandemic on young people, Employers have a responsibility to find out exactly how the pandemic is affecting the careers of young employees.  

This means actively listening and responding to their concerns, and then working together to address them by putting in place the right structures, processes and tools. Businesses will therefore need to listen and support to young people on an individual basis.

Some young workers, for example, will want to communicate with their boss and their colleagues more frequently than others, especially if they are continuing to work in isolation at home.  According to the report, 44% of 18–24-year-olds are looking forward to return to the workplace, compared to 19% for over 25’s.

Over half (60%) cited social interaction as the main reason for wanting to return to the office.

For those who haven’t returned to the office yet, team chats are a useful tool to stay in contact with younger members of your teams, as are virtual happy hours and team lunches.

Buddying up is also invaluable so that young people working remotely, especially those starting their first ever job, have a dedicated person to coach, guide and support them during what is a very testing time.