81 per cent youth prefer to be self-employed: study

Mumbai: Almost 81 per cent of the youth prefer being self-employed to working for an organisation, a study has revealed. "Being self-made, rather than working for a stable organisation is the new high," the MTV Many Me project said. The study was conducted by MTV, among 11,000 young men and women in the age group of 13-25 years in 50 cities across the country, using both qualitative and quantitative methodology.

It said the youth prefer to take measured risks and challenges and most would rather be self employed than be doing 'just a job'. In 2014, only 67 per cent of the respondents had said they would eventually like to be self-employed. "It is not that 81 per cent youth want to have their own startups.

It's about them not necessarily working for a corporate and doing their own thing," Viacom18 Head Youth and English Entertainment Ferzad Palia said. However, he added that a lot of the youth are happy to work for a start-up.

"As the years go by, I think we are going to find it hard to attract a young talent to come into corporate," he said. As per the report, almost 80 per cent of the youngsters said that they are in constant pursuit of their calling and their biggest fears in life is to be stuck in the wrong job or wander aimlessly without purpose.

It noted that 86 per cent of the respondents would give work-life balance priority and 80 per cent were open to taking a sabbatical during their careers. In terms of content consumption, the youth are just as discerning about what they don't consume, as what they do, the report said. It noted that TV is still the main go to for Indian youth, but they will go anywhere they can consume good content.

Nearly 36 per cent of the respondents watch shows only on TV, while 18 per cent watch shows only online. The rest are a mix of the TV and online. Almost 27 per cent of the youth surveyed said they discover a show on TV and then go online and watch it.