We live in a giddily fast era that knows no peace. If we happen to lag behind its pace, we face no chances for good life. We need a new global way of thinking, including the manpower market, in order to meet the high criteria of this quickly changing world. The companies of the future shall rely on the so-called multi-functional employees that are not experts in a single area only. Thus people will need to comprehend various topics and to learn on the fly many others.

“Multi-functionality will turn into the new motivation, as people will carry on different tasks, entering sometimes several roles simultaneously, thus raising the productiveness of both the company and their own life,” Nadya Vasileva, a managing director of an HR agency comments. “At the same time the levels of stress will increase in a serious manner due to the quick change and only the stable and down-to-earth employees will make it. Besides that each and every one of us will need to find the strict balance between the professional aspect and the health status. Of course, the gaining of basic financial skills will be compulsory, in order for one to be able to plan and control his own accounting. To sum up, multi-functionality will be the advantage that you have, compared to other job applicants.”

Employers find it harder and harder to trace down qualified personnel. Ethics, readiness to change, discipline, engagement, initiative, responsibility and openness to new knowledge are only some of the qualities demanded, Nadya Vasileva says.

“This is the so-called discrepancy between demand and supply. We witness a crisis of the mid-level management due to the lack of enough responsibility, engagement and initiative which turns to a problem for the companies. On the other hand companies should reconsider the way they work and how tasks are distributed among the different generations, as those tend to create increasing tension within the working environment. As far as job applicants are concerned, we need to take into consideration the fact that they now have their own choice – airport Terminal 2, entrepreneurship activities etc.”

There are 5 generations on the labor market right now, totally different in their expectations and motivation. These are the traditionalists, baby boomers (those, born in the 1950s) and the X, Y and Z generations.

“Baby boomers and the X and Y generations form the greatest market share right now. Baby boomers would like to work longer – they are traditionalists, well-educated and disciplined, as technologies were not that developed back in their days. However, we can’t be sure whether employers expect that type of qualities. At the same time the X and Y generations are prepared for a marathon of a kind, they need more freedom to change gears, since they are aware that they will work till 80 and even more… For the first time the younger generations will chase careers with several employers, instead of one workplace across their whole life.”

Foreign languages for the call-centers, engineering, IT or finances – these are the main requirements today, but the current process of learning is outdated, according to Nadya Vasileva.

“A radical change is necessary for the accelerated gaining of a university diploma, as no employer can wait for 4 -5 years. We need to introduce new methods for training of all generations. People should be able to go from work to study all through their life, with the assistance of employers and institutions – this means new experience and learning with no income interruption. Thus labor market demands will be covered all the time,” the expert says in conclusion.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev