European Youth Study: Businesses Must Adapt to Next Gen

• Conducted by TCS and ComRes, the largest ever study of European youth and social media finds businesses and educators are failing to use social media to engage with youth
• Nordics are better at using social media for networking and socialising than the rest of Europe, but they lag behind in finding jobs via social channels. Only Germany score lower.

LONDON | MUMBAI, August 18, 2016: Tata Consultancy Services (BSE: 532540, NSE: TCS), a leading IT services, consulting and business solutions organization, has released the largest ever Social Media survey of European Youth. Examining the impact of social media on youth employment and education skills, the research surveyed a representative sample of more than 5,000 Europeans aged 18-29 from across 15 different countries. Among these were 1,007 respondents from the Nordic region (200 Danes, 203 Finns, 202 Norwegians and 402 Swedes).

The report finds that for the generation of young Europeans that have grown up immersed in digital technology, social media has become far more than just a source of entertainment. By democratizing the way in which we communicate, discover information and share ideas, social media has helped to shape and empower this generation of young people.

Ashish Babu, Director of Communications UK & Europe, TCS, comments: “Our report on European Youth and Social Media shows that young Europeans have an instinctive understanding of the opportunities presented by social media – and the Nordic youth is no different. Some organisations have successfully adapted to the behaviours of this generation to drive innovation, growth and social change. However, in too many cases businesses and employers are still seeking to ignore the inclinations of young people– this must change or organizations risk being left behind by more agile, innovative competitors."

Social media is part of work and education for the Nordic youth

The research finds that young people expect to be able to share ideas and collaborate seamlessly across channels. Social media is not seen as separate from business, but is in fact a key tool for the young. For example:

• Almost two out of three use social media to expand their network of business contacts, colleagues or fellow students in the Nordics (64%). Compared to a somewhat lower proportion (62%) in Europe.
• 47% of young Northerners on social media spend time improving their skills, knowledge and expertise on social media

Importantly, the young generation believes in using whichever social platform best allows them to achieve their goals, rather than tailoring communications to certain networks. Overall, 93% of young Europeans use Facebook, compared to just 36% who use LinkedIn – which is a trend in the Nordic region too:

• Facebook and YouTube are the absolute most popular platforms throughout the Nordics (91-99% usage), whereas Instagram is markedly more prevalent in Sweden and Norway (SE 71%; NO 67%) compared to their neighbours (FI 42%; DK 55%).
• Another interesting point is the fact that LinkedIn is strikingly more used in Denmark than any of the other countries with 44% - compared to only 22% in Finland, 27% in Sweden and 31% in Norway.

Nordic businesses and educators need to wake up to the power of social

Many businesses are still not acknowledging the benefits that social can bring to their business. Just 19% of young Nordic employees think that social media has enabled more direct contact with senior management, and only 24% believe that social media allows them to propose new ideas to senior management.

This is also true in education. Almost eight in ten Nordic students (79%) use social media to talk to classmates about course related issues. However, only 31% think that social media enables them to build greater engagement with educators or to improve communication with educators in the classroom.

To attract and retain the best young talent, companies must actively position themselves on social media, especially on channels with a high degree of use and reach. The young people are unimpressed by traditional recruitment process and large companies should focus their use of social media on engaging young people in and outside their companies.

To find out more about the research, or to download the full report, please visit: http://sites.tcs.com/generation-direct/

Additional information

TCS
Mark Woods, Marketing Communications Manager, Nordic Region
mark.w@tcs.com
+358 40 159 2350