Recommendations
This paper might have painted a grim reality of the evolving concepts of
work and family within the African continent for the ‘Millennial’
worker. That was never the real intention. The purpose was to highlight
the fact that both work and family are facing critical reorganizations
and that ‘Millennials’ are uniquely placed to seize the opportunity
presented to shape the eventual outcomes of both concepts for the
betterment of our time and of those to come.
The first of these opportunities lies in a race, not for greater
technological advancement in the work place, but for outdoing each other
in infusing humanity into the age of automation.. The numerous
interventions necessitous in realizing this outcome portend, in my view,
a veritable solution to the joblessness. The largely unregulated state
of the digital labour market affords the precious opportunity to
re-think the interests of the worker and to conceptualize the meaning
and place of work, building on the gains that have already been achieved
and dealing definitively with the loose ends which continue to
perpetuate inequality. Part of this inequality is a by-product of the
stereotypes fermented by generational theories. Instead of lazily
labelling the characteristics of age cohorts on a global scale, serious
research within individual workplaces will cast light on the needs and
challenges faced by workers across a lifespan in order to cater
effectively and accumulatively to them. Some organizations are already
catching onto the fact that the traditional incentives are no longer
attractive, driving up competition towards incentive packages that
actually make sense to the here-and-now workplace. Assistance with
offsetting some of the student loan is a good example.
Within the education sector, major curriculum shifts toward greater
compatibility between pedagogy and the real-time requirements of
industry are needed. Emphasis on education that allows active and
competitive contribution to the green, blue and orange economies is
critical. At the same time, these curricula amendments will allow for
greater indigenization of education, especially within the African
context to promote and ingrain those positive cultural dimensions of a
synergetic community. If the necessary human, monetary and time
resources are allocated to this enterprise, meaningful work
opportunities will be immediately emergent.
Within the family context, an appreciation of the unsustainability of
current family formation patterns is needful. Abundant family research,
counselling and training will be useful in shaping better family
outcomes especially among young people. Causes of conflict, challenges
to parenting, work benefits sensitive to unique family set-ups such as
single parents or the elderly need constant exploration.