Let’s have no more talk of ‘snowflakes’

Left in the rain or a warming sun, the snowflake will quickly wilt and disappear. Yet, given the right weather conditions and environment, they can help make and form part of a glorious landscape.

I’m reminded of those singing couples in Irving Berlin’s classic musical White Christmas, as they travel up to Vermont for a seasonal engagement:

It’s a beautiful picture they paint, and they remind us that there’s “No white Christmas with no snow.”

In other words, if snowflakes are placed somewhere they can not only survive but thrive, they have a great deal to offer, to the beauty of the landscape and our appreciation of it, as well as a vital boost to the winter tourist trade.

Concerned

Yet, it seems members of the UK’s so-called snowflake generation aren’t being properly nurtured or cared for by a workplace that is positively unhelpful, even hostile to its young recruits. Increasingly concerned by news reports and features prompted by the stark fact one million of the UK’s 16 to 24-year-olds are not in employment, education or training (known as ‘Neets’), IOSH decided to ask 500 young workers how they view the workplace.

The clear message coming back was that they feel “unsupported, undervalued and overlooked.” With more than half (56 per cent) saying they felt judged more on meeting targets than on their creativity or wider contribution, a picture emerged of new career entrants bringing enthusiasm and ambition to their roles yet having their sense of worth limited, shaped narrowly by set performance expectations. These had little regard for allowing young workers to reach their full potential, or for their health and wellbeing.

Rather than backing our young workers to perform to their best, grow into their careers and deliver sustained success for their employers, themselves and their co-workers, the reality seems to be one of thwarted ambition, emotional strain and frustrated expression. Here are some top lines from our commissioned YouGov research.

• More than a third of young workers felt uncomfortable taking full rest breaks or switching off outside working hours. This points to a normalisation, or culture of long working hours.
• 15 per cent said they had taken time off work in the last year due to work-related stress, depression or anxiety, with a further 23 per cent saying they came close to doing so.
• Around a third had considered leaving their job because its design had a negative effect on their wellbeing, while 12 per cent had considered leaving the workforce entirely.

Our survey showed young workers not only feeling the pressure, but often not knowing where to seek support. With 42 per cent saying they left education without a clear understanding of workplace health, safety and wellbeing, they felt unprepared to deal with any part of their work experience that felt wrong.

I say that it’s time we did more to support our young workers. When launching the first part of his report on young people and work, last month, former UK Government cabinet minister Alan Milburn said the number of Neets could rise to 1.25 million by the early 2030s without urgent action. But surely, we all have a responsibility here – employers, educators, worker representatives and, yes, occupational health and safety professionals.

Who wouldn’t have felt the heat of all the challenges that have been thrown at our young people? These include the disruption brought by a pandemic, a digital and AI revolution that continues to revolutionise the way we work, the cultural explosion brought by social media channels, a cost of living crisis, and a demoralising job market that is hitting new entrants particularly hard.

So, please, let’s have no more talk of snowflakes. Let’s all of us work extra hard to create the conditions where our young and future workers can sustain themselves and help us all grow a workplace that works, is admired and enjoyed.