Members of Generation Y – also known as millennials – have a strong sense of entrepreneurship that is reshaping the Canadian economy, according to the results of an Intuit Canada survey released October 9.
The survey found that millennials, defined as young adults born after 1980, are more than twice as likely than the Canadian average to want to start a business within the next year. The poll found that while 8% of Canadians overall were interested in starting a new venture, 16% of millennials expressed a similar sentiment.
"It's far too common to dismiss millennials as an entitled 'me' generation, and to dismiss their approach to the workplace," said Jeff Cates, managing director of Intuit Canada.
One possible reason for the strong pull toward entrepreneurship, Intuit argues, is necessity, as the unemployment rate for millennials (14.1%) is almost double the Canadian average (7.1%).
However, respondents stated that they were more likely to choose running their own businesses as a means of charting their own course (78%) than because of money or status (16%).
The poll found that millennials' business locations of choice include:
- home (48%);
- online (28%); and
- storefront (19%).
