A bittersweet irony: What does the ‘boundaryless’ career mean for Gen Y employees?

The notion of career offers a vantage point from which to understand the relationship between individuals and their organisations.  But from which vantage point should we be looking? Let’s look at the pre-existing career; the one that hasn’t started for most of us Gen Y university students, yet the one that looks to be the most seductive in its ‘limitless’ form - the ‘boundaryless’ career.

‘Boundaryless’ has become a fashionable concept in organisational literature, but what does this really mean for us Gen Y employees?  Does it give us greater choice, empower us, or perhaps a right to more flexibility at work?  Some may argue yes.  Others may shake their head.  It brews instability, insecurity and an excuse for organisations to not commit to us in return.  Nevertheless, the trend for Gen Y seems to be swaying towards option A, and it’s no wonder.  After all, we are the generation who ‘wants it all’ but wants to do it differently to how it’s been done before.

The boundaryless career tells us we must embrace our careers as our ‘personal property.’  No longer should the organisation dictate the structure of our career.  If we are to flourish in this new environment, we must become self-reliant, rid our dependence on the organisation, and most importantly develop our own competencies to become the architects of our own careers.  And while we’re busy doing all this, gone are the boundaries that once constrained us from doing so!

While this initially alludes to greater career empowerment, charactertised by greater flexibility and autonomy, in reality it confronts us with a bittersweet irony.  Physical mobility has almost become a given; we’re expected to move freely between jobs in search for ‘the best’, and we believe we are entitled to do so.  But while we admit to this ‘free agent’ attitude whose loyalties are spread, we also want the support we’ve been so accustomed to receiving from our parents mirrored by the organisation.  We want the best of both worlds.

We [Gen Y] have been perceived as embracing overinflated egos, a given ‘sense of entitlement’, and an expectation that employers should share our enthusiasm for a work/life balance.  But the greatest revelation is that our greater work experience and level of education has led us to become more mobile.  With our qualifications, it’s become simple for us to move between employers if we are unhappy (and why shouldn’t we?).  It’s no wonder the concept of the boundaryless career has emerged.

But here’s the catch, here’s that bittersweet irony - we want to break free from traditional constraints, while all the more wanting to follow a yellow brick road that’s been paved before us, leading us to our ideal career.  We still need (and want) that given sense of direction.  So we must ask the question, while we expose ourselves as job-hoppers with greater demands than generations before us, are we revolutionising the concept of career (as we like to think we are), or are we making it more difficult for ourselves in the long run?

In reality, while we jump between jobs in pursuit of our ideal career, we are cementing the view of us Gen Y employees having short attention spans and lacking in focus. For employers, who wants to interview (or better yet hire) someone who is the ripe old age of 30 and has an exhaustive list of different workplaces on their CV?  Surely the employees’ commitment comes into question, and instability comes to the fore.  And now the Gen Y hopper is stumped.  As we pursue the opportunities this boundaryless horizon seems to offer, we must caution ourselves of its effects in the long run.

Evelyn Chronis and Sylvia Chronis: Current students of the University of Sydney Business School.

The National Broadband Strategy and other technological innovations allow a seamless integration of work, leisure and home-life through telework

Did you know that National Telework Week occurred on the 18-22 of November to raise awareness of the benefits of telework will take place? Sadly, most of you reading this may not even know what telework is, even if you are teleworkers yourself. Teleworking is the name given to working from home, simple as that! The benefits of telework are astounding­ - from reduced stress resulting from not having to sit in horrible Sydney traffic to commute to the office, to a better work/life balance and, in some cases, more time with your family. Like the sound of these benefits? You should give teleworking a try! 

Teleworking is already on the rise but with the implementation of the new National Broadband Network (NBN) it will only increase in popularity. Technological innovation, such as the NBN, only makes teleworking easier as it increases quick and seamless communication with the office when teleworking from home. Stephen Conroy, former Minister of Broadband and Communications, stated that, “the delivery of reliable high speed broadband to every Australian premise will potentially revolutionise how we will work”. But could this ease also come at a cost to the employee? 

According to a University of Melbourne study, employees may be more productive when teleworking but may overcompensate by working approximately three hours more than the traditional worker. So is a person choosing telework to reduce travel time, only to increase work hours? As the teleworking website suggests, there is also the worry of isolation, both social and professional. Support and continuous communication from management, workers and family are essential to overcome social isolation. However, will the company forget about including the teleworker, will you miss your promotion, or lose your networking connections? These all need to be considered. 

Companies are giving mixed opinions on this seamless integration between work, leisure and home-life. Yahoo and Google, who are at the forefront of technology assisting with telework, ironically disagree with employees working away from the office. As Google’s CFO Patrick Pichette minimises teleworkers in the company stating that the “magical moments” of eating, employee chatter and time with coworkers are lost. Opposing this view is Cisco Australia with approximately 90 percent of their global employee’s teleworking one or more days a week. “Our workers who work outside the office are consistently more engaged, more productive happier [and] have a higher sense of well being than traditional bricks and mortar workers”, says Tim Fawcett, Cisco’s general manager of government affairs and policy. Who wouldn’t want that? 

We believe that teleworking attitudes have been ingrained into our generation since we started school. In order to achieve what we wanted we had to be willing to work from home. In high school and primary school we had homework… Now, at university if we want desirable grades, a lot of time and effort need to be put in at home outside of the classroom. Prominent universities such as the University of Sydney, Charles Sturt University and Macquarie University, to name a few, offer and support telework in their institutions through online education; a person can complete their whole degree without setting foot in a classroom. With these attitudes and values entrenched in our everyday lives, it wouldn't be surprising if Generation Y would expect the opportunity to telework when they hit the workforce. 

This poses the question: is teleworking best suited to specific sectors or workplaces? Is teleworking suited to you? The best way to find out is to find our more by visiting telework.gov.au and gather your own opinions.

Hannah Anderson and Briana Tabone: Current students at the University of Sydney Business School.