By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor
Who would you want as a boss? A car enthusiast with a decent right hook? Well, it appears Generation Y would love him to be their leader. The BBC’s loss is Generation Y’s potential gain.
New research by social job referral site GigPlug reveals that 19 per cent of Generation Y and 10 per cent of baby-boomers ranked Clarkson as their ideal boss.
The other two main competitors in the list are Mark Zuckerberg with 23 per cent and Bill Gates with 19 per cent of the vote. One would expect the two goliaths of the digital world to be top of Generation Y’s dream manager, but Clarkson is a surprising choice.
Violent bosses aside the Generation Y, the independent, digitally savvy ‘workforce of tomorrow’ value personal ambition above all else and are more willing to ‘move on, to move up’ in comparison to baby boomers.
The research found that one third would be willing to move on from a well-paid job, simply because they didn’t like it, with less than1% believing in a ‘job for life’. In contrast, the ‘baby boomer’ generation were found to be ten times more likely to believe in staying with one job for entirety.
In a sign of how competitive the job market is, ‘Gen Y’ revealed a ruthless streak when it came to forwarding their own careers, with nearly a third saying they would be willing to stab a colleague in the back to get ahead and one in five claiming they would happily sleep with their boss if they thought it would further their career.
The changing nature of the office was also clear from our research. With Generation Y favouring a modern and relaxed, ‘silicon valley-inspired’ work place with 19% wanting a free bar, 18% a cracking Christmas party and 15% keen for free breakfast.
GigPlug – a new technology platform that turns consumers into part time recruiters and makes them money from their smartphone, delivering you a bounty payment of up to £2500 if your friend takes the role – founder Phil Hakim, “We’re seeing the younger generation understand that they don’t need to be as loyal to their jobs as their parents were. They are far more in charge of their futures and their priorities when looking for a job are different. This shows that, in a UK job market that is worth £28.7bn, employers have a lot to do in order to attract and retain the best young talent.”
So it appears, as long as you book in a decent xmas bash, install a ping-pong table and some bean-bags to sit on, bosses can feel free to attack their Generation Y workforce, well as long as you are Jeremy Clarkson.