Gen Y Financial Services Industry (FSI) professionals across Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand rank career advancement and challenging work as their top workplace priorities, said the a study by Asian Institute of Finance (AIF).

The AIF study, entitled ‘Gen Y in the Workplace: an ASEAN Perspective’, explores the workplace attitudes, expectations and aspirations of Generation Y finance professionals in four key ASEAN member countries.

More than 1,900 Generation Y professionals, aged between 20 to 34 years and managers from financial institutions in the region took part in the survey.

Generation Y, being the largest generation living in Asia today, is set to transform the workplace across ASEAN and it is estimated that by 2030, Generation Y will make up over half of the region’s total population.

As this generation increasingly moves into management positions, their success will have a significant influence on the future success of national economies.

The study reveals there to be a generally high level of engagement and loyalty among Generation Y employees across the FSI; satisfaction with their managers and realistic understanding of job mobility.

Career advancement is also seen as their most important driver as opposed to salary.

AIF’s findings in Malaysia show Generation Y’s have a tendency to prioritise fast career progression an doverall, the report also highlights several regional similarities with global trends.

“At Maybank, empowering and developing future generations is one of our greatest pursuits.

“Building, empowering and growing talent means that we bring value to the individual professionally and also personally, as well as to the shareholders.

“This study enables organisations to look beyond the Gen Y stereotypes, making way for progressive companies like ours to gain further confidence in how we respond to their real life expectations in the workplace,” said Maybank Group chief human capital officer, Nora Manaf.

She added that it’s important that we continuously provide opportunities for Gen Ys to unleash and nurture their creativity, allowing their voices to be heard as well as transforming their efforts into reality in the current digitalised environment.

“This is our mandate as a responsible organisation – to provide them with the right tools to collaborate, brainstorm and find impactful Solutions,” she continued.

AIF chief executive officer, Dr Raymond Madden concur and said : “This study represents one of the most comprehensive regional surveys of its kind, exploring Gen Y attitudes of the workplace, job expectations and career development.

“We hope it will help ASEAN-based businesses develop more effective talent management practices and increase their overall competitiveness.”

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