Almost 65% of our population is under the age of 30. That is not just a statistic, it ought to be a national asset!

Yet, almost every day, I come across poor young people in their 20s working in factories, retail shops, restaurants, car workshops etc. They are often underpaid, unseen, and written off as “undisciplined” or “uncommitted.”

On the other side, I hear business owners complain about the lack of work ethic, punctuality, and integrity at the lowest levels of their organizations.

But I often wonder is it really their attitude or is it our employment model?

Work is not just an economic transaction. It is deeply tied to identity, dignity, and self-worth. We demand reliability, diligence, and honesty from these young workers, yet offer them no visible future in return. No growth path. No signal that excellence will be rewarded. No sense that today’s helper could become tomorrow’s supervisor or even manager.

When effort has no upside, motivation naturally suffers.

If we truly want a disciplined and committed workforce, we must first build systems that recognize and reward those qualities, especially at the bottom of the pyramid. To start with, we must provide clear career ladders, training, respect for the dignity of labor and opportunities to belong to something bigger than just a job.

This is not charity. This is smart business.

Organizations that invest in young people at the lowest levels build stronger cultures, reduce attrition, create future leaders, and ultimately outperform those that treat entry-level workers as disposable. This is true for small and medium sized businesses as well as large corporates.

Our youth from lower income groups already face barriers of age, inexperience, inadequate education and limited access. If some of them are fortunate enough to find their way to our organizations, the least we can do is design workplaces that help them grow rather than keep them trapped at the bottom.

If we fail to give our young people meaning and mobility inside our organizations, they will look for the same elsewhere. And the cost of that, socially and economically, is much higher and already being paid in terms of the many ills faced by our society.

Worth thinking about 🤔