LinkedIn, the world’s largest online professional network, has released research today revealing that half of parents in the UK believe they wouldn’t be able to do their child’s job for a day, and over a fifth (22 percent) think they would be fired if they tried to – which could be down to 71 percent not fully understanding what their child does for a living.
To help bridge this gap, LinkedIn is holding its fourth annual Bring In Your Parents Day initiative, where hundreds of companies across the UK, and the world, will open their doors to their employees’ parents on Friday, 4th November. To mark this year’s initiative, LinkedIn today released a new global study looking at the relationship between professionals and their parents, showing there is a significant disconnect and lack of communication between parents and their children when it comes to work.
Parents don’t understand some of today’s top jobs
The study also showed that parents in the UK don’t understand some of the top jobs available today:
1. UI designer (93%)
2. Data scientist (82%)
3. Actuary (77%)
4. Social media manager (75%)
5. Sub editor (71%)
= Sociologist (71%)
7. Investment banker (64%)
8. Radio producer (61%)
= PR manager (61%)
10. Software developer (59%)
Parents put off by today’s workplace
Only 12 percent of parents in the UK would like to do their child’s job, compared to nearly half (46 percent) of parents in Singapore, a third in Ireland, over half (54 percent) in Sweden and 48 percent in Hong Kong. In fact, over a fifth (22 percent) of British parents think they would be fired if they tried to do their child’s job.
This could be down to changes in the workplace, with 15 percent of parents being put off doing their child’s job because of the long working hours, two-fifths (41 percent) feeling they wouldn’t have the right skills and over half (53 percent) feeling there is too much jargon in the workplace today.
Brit parents don’t shout about their kids’ achievements
UK parents are some of the most modest in the world when it comes to talking about their children’s achievements. Just six percent say they brag all the time about their child’s professional achievements, compared to a fifth of parents in the US and India, and a massive two-fifths (39 percent) in Sweden.
Over a third (36 percent) of UK parents say they would never brag about their child’s achievements to others, second only to parents in the Netherlands where 47 percent say they never do this.
Parents VS their children
UK parents believe their children have more opportunities in the workplace than they did, with over half (52 percent) of mothers feeling their daughter has more opportunity to progress in their career than they did, compared to a massive 77 percent of parents in India.
Two-thirds (58%) of British parents feel their kids make more money than they did at the same age, 39 percent think they have more opportunity to learn new skills, and a third (31 percent) feel their children are on track to be more successful than they were in their career.
“Our research shows that although our parents are proud of our achievements, there is a worrying lack of understanding when it comes to our professional lives,” said LinkedIn’s Darain Faraz. “We’re thrilled that our Bring In Your Parents Day initiative helps inspire hundreds of companies worldwide to connect parents to their children’s professional lives by opening up their workplaces.”
LinkedIn’s Bring In Your Parents Day is being held in 15 countries worldwide. Businesses including ASOS, The Crown Estate and The Economist are amongst those taking part in the day in the UK. You can find out more about the day at biyp.linkedin.com or join conversations on Twitter with #LinkedIn #BIYP.
