The famous indefinite contract (CDI), Ketsia Bongo no longer wants to know more about it. From now on, this chartered accountant only bets on temporary, “more flexible” and “more diverse” assignments.
Since closing the door on her first contract two years ago, the 24-year-old has already turned down two job offers in the Paris region, fearing “feeling locked in” to a position or company. And it is not for less, her first experience in the labor market, in a technical control center in Buissy-Saint-George (Val-de-Marne) left her with a bitter taste.
“We were watched and there was no room for discussion, it was like that and not otherwise,” he recalls. “Yo, this is not how I plan to work. I vowed to never lock myself into this mode of operation again.”
“People have become idle”
“Do young people really still want to work?” asks Olivia Kharoubi of her womenswear store in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris.
In recent years, recruiting young salespeople has become a real headache for the 36-year-old Parisian. When the pace of work, salary or assignments do not suit them, candidates no longer hesitate to say no to the CDI. And that, it is difficult for her to conceive, she who still remembers the day when, as a teenager, she proudly presented her first contract to her parents.
“Take your fingers out!” he asks young people entering the labor market, in a video posted last july on TikTok. “I have the impression that people have become lazy. He has the gift of annoying me”, continues Olivia Kharoubi, who offers “a fairly well-paid sales job”, according to her, at 1,800 euros net.
colliding designs
In health, transport, logistics or personal services… In recent months, companies in certain sectors of activity have panicked and “questioned”. “They don’t understand why young people slam the door or run away from the sacrosanct CDI”, sums up Élodie Gentina, in her book Generation Z: from consumers Z to employees Zreleased in 2018.
Companies are realizing that it is increasingly difficult to recruit or retain profiles of young people known as Generation Z, born between 1997 and 2010, explains the professor-researcher at the IESEG management school and business professor. But in reality, it’s not that young people don’t want to work, he analyzes: they simply want to work in a different way.
“The CDI is not as popular as it used to be, it’s true,” he admits. “A few years ago, it was something you couldn’t turn down. But the expectations of those entering the job market have changed and it’s not what they’re looking for anymore.”
The search for “meaning”
The framework of the indefinite contract, which previously could be appreciated by the employees, no longer attracts. The younger generation prefers short contracts, temporary assignments, and even entrepreneurship. A study carried out by Élodie Gentina Among 2,300 young students, it thus shows that “44% do not know if they want to practice the same profession for the rest of their lives and only 26% of them project themselves towards the same profession”.
“This generation is interesting: hyperconnected, it is totally immediacy”, he deciphers. “She needs to be constantly stimulated and it’s super hard for her to plan for the long term, even beyond a year.”
“Today they will rather try to respond to a balance of life”, after having witnessed the long careers and dedication of their parents for their work. “And many of them have been struck by the discrepancy between their overtime, their sacrifices, and the lack of recognition from their employers,” he sums up. “It no longer makes them dream.”
“9 am to 7 pm is not the life I wanted”
Precisely for this reason, last January, after just one year of an indefinite contract as a lawyer in a Parisian start-up, Kenza Bennani resigned to throw herself fully into entrepreneurship and business consulting.
“After my law studies, I was looking forward to my CDI as a Christmas present and yet it was disappointing. It was a grueling pace for a salary that didn’t follow at all… 9am-7pm every day, throughout Over the months, I realized that this was not the life I wanted,” the 26-year-old confesses to BFMTV.com.
The young woman assures that she did not recognize herself in the “delays” and “productivist” missions that she was entrusted with.
“Mentalities have changed a lot,” also analyzes Laurène Lévy, an influential advertising consultant and Tiktokeuse specialized in the world of work. “We have a new opening, we are sensitive to new things, such as bullying or the issue of mental health,” explains the 27-year-old.
Paths of life less and less linear
Two years ago, fresh out of school, she did not hesitate to end the probationary period of her newly signed CDI, against the advice of her relatives. At that time, her parents and her grandparents, however, tried to affirm the preciousness of the famous indefinite-term contract. “For them it was the goal of her life, something exceptional to get a CDI right after her studies.”
“Life doesn’t work like that, miss,” the company director also replied, when he told her that he wanted to leave because of the bad relationship with his supervisor. “We do not let go of the ship on the way. I’ve been here for 30 years and although things aren’t going well, I’m staying. A question of solidarity”.
But that’s not Laurène Lévy’s mood at all. “I do my job, but I don’t owe them more than that,” says the young woman. “This company is neither my family’s nor mine. I am loyal to myself but I know very well that if the company wants to fire me tomorrow, it will do so without any scruples”.
“With the Covid, the repeated crises that we are experiencing lately, people have realized that everything can be stopped overnight, so what is the use of giving body and soul?” Kenza also wonders. Bennani.
clearer limits
Laurène Lévy, who took some time before accepting a new CDI after this first experience, set clear boundaries for her new employer. “I never check my emails and I don’t answer any messages or phone calls outside of my working hours. Never. I consider that it is also up to us not to let ourselves be invaded”, explains Laurène Lévy.
“They are much more observant, that’s for sure,” says Olivia Kharoubi, manager of the Parisian ready-to-wear store.
For the teacher-researcher Élodie Gentina, the point of view and the demands of Generation Z are an opportunity to “wake up and question ourselves about the centrality of work in life”.
Source: BFM TV
