Work and young people: when starting on your own is not a fallback
Young people, the 4.0 revolution and work: how does the under-35 employment scenario change? In a context in which digitalisation has opened new doors to start-ups and new-generation companies, the data that makes us think is counter to expectations.
In fact, if a growing number of new entrepreneurs was expected, Unioncamere* has revealed that the percentage of start-ups led by Millennials is down 7%, and that young people in 2018 chose to do business less frequently. The figure must be interpreted, however, in the light of other factors, such as the number of women leaders, which settles at 33%, substantially at the same value as for older companies.
Companies led by budding entrepreneurs tend to implode within the first three years of life, yet if they survive the first five years they show a much greater resistance than those that have navigated sudden and unpredictable changes in the market.
While the decision to set up on one’s own is no longer considered a fallback, but an adventure in which to give one’s best, the reduction in the number of neophytes who dedicate themselves to a completely go-it-alone venture continues: there were 121,700 fewer in 2018 compared to 2017 and the number is growing.
If the difficulties encountered in the management of start-ups make them more vulnerable in the first three years of their life, during which the majority collapses, once they get past the first five years the tendency is reversed and they become resilient, especially when market barriers do not penalize them.
Thus, budding entrepreneurs prefer sectors such as rental, wholesale and online trade, food, art, sport and entertainment at the expense of more structured sectors that penalize young entrepreneurs with fetters and constraints.
Finally a consideration. Fifteen percent of those who run new businesses are immigrants. Perhaps those who go through the difficulties of relocating to a new country are more inclined to face the unknown, which is what a new business presents to a young person who wants to get involved today.
*The Italian Union of the Chambers of Commerce Industry, Craft and Agriculture
