Image via CrunchBase
Entrepreneurs like Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Tumblr’s David Karp are certainly rare, as evidenced by the fortunes they’ve amassed before age 30. They may be getting even rarer, if a new study by Monster.com and Millennial Branding is any indication.
According to the report, Zuckerberg and Karp’s generation is the least entrepreneurial cohort in the workforce today. Only 32% of Millennials (currently aged 18-29, also known as Generation Y) consider themselves to be entrepreneurial, compared with 41% of Generation X and 45% of Boomer respondents.
“Gen Y has always been pinged as the entrepreneurial generation but based on these findings it’s actually the opposite,” said Millennial Branding founder and FORBES contributor Dan Schawbel.
Boomers and members of Generation X generally have greater means—and, therefore, stability—to pursue entrepreneurial opportunities. Millennials are less inclined to be interested in entrepreneurship or high-risk endeavors, perhaps in part because they don’t want exacerbate precarious situations.
“I think it’s because of student loans, fear of unemployment,” said Schawbel. They’re trying to find some sort of income that’s somewhat stable so I think they’re more risk-averse because their situation’s risky right now.”
The study also revealed a growing trend of intrapreneurship—employees behaving like entrepreneurs under the umbrella of an established company—across all generations. Many respondents that don’t consider themselves especially entrepreneurial do feel they have the opportunity for innovation within their companies.
Forward-thinking companies tend to encourage that sort of behavior. For example, Google encourages employees to spend 20% of their time pursuing projects outside of their job descriptions, a policy that has led to the creation of products like Gmail and Google News.
Additional findings in the generational entrepreneurship study indicate that Boomers are most concerned with healthcare and location, while Millennials prioritize potential for job advancement and training. Company size, products and services produced, and leadership were surprisingly unimportant to respondents across the board.
There will always be outliers, but it may take some serious financial recovery to cultivate another ‘Generation Sell.’ In the meantime, the likes of Zuckerberg and Karp show that it’s possible to launch world-changing companies even in the darkest of economic times.
