The UK Workforce: Driven, Demanding and Divided

LONDON, March 25, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

• 16-24 year olds happy to do anything to get ahead - including sleeping with the boss
• Gen Y want free food, free drink and a cracking Christmas party when picking a job
• Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates named 'generational pin-ups' for each age-group

New research by social job referral site GigPlug reveals a dramatic generation gap in how the UK population view the job market.

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150325/736087-INFO )

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 than 1% 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. Baby boomers, as you would expect, have far more sensible perks in mind including a generous holiday allowance (63%) and share options (25%) being the most popular perks.

In a sign of the times, the top ranking 'ideal boss' for each generation represented a 'changing of the guard' for world business leaders, with Mark Zuckerberg coming out top for Gen Y with 23% of the votes and Bill Gates taking top spot for the baby-boomers, with 19% of the vote.

The adoption of social media as a major force was echoed by the fact that over half of Gen Y felt their online presence was very important to consider while applying for a new job, while only less than one third of baby-boomers thought so.

Says GigPlug 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."

GigPlug is a new technology platform that turns consumers into part time recruiters and makes them money from their smartphone. The platform uses a newly developed algorithm that matches your social contacts with a database of new jobs. Upon matching the professional experience of a contact with the criteria of a job posted on GigPlug, the platform invites you to refer your friend for the job via one easy click, delivering you a bounty payment of up to £2500 if your friend takes the role. Currently there are bounty payments amounting to £100,000 on the platform

Notes To Editors:

Please visit http://www.GigPlug.com for more information

Survey conducted on  http://www.onepoll.com in March 2015

Total number of respondents - 3000 UK full-time employed adults

SOURCE GigPlug