285
1 INTRODUCTION
Generally, a labour market is understood as a place
where two sides, workers and employees, interact
with each other. In case of maritime labour market
shipowners/managersandseafarershavechangeable
characteristics and expectations. MET institution’s
mission is not only preparing young people for
maritime career at sea,
forming their professional
competences, but and providing help in their career
management.Forthisreason,itisimportanttoknow
newseafarers’generationneedsandcareerambitions,
aswellasexpectationsfromsideofmaritimelabour
market.Mutualunderstanding would helptofind a
balancebetweenexpectationsofbothand
adequately
managechanges.
Shippingis,obviously,anextremelyoldindustry
andonethathasestablished andmaintained astrict
hierarchical occupation system in which seafarers’
career development follows a common route from
ratings,tojuniorofficerstoseniorofficers,depending
on the accumulation of knowledge, experience and
skills(Wu&Morris,
2006).
Theshippingindustryishighlycyclicalinnature
andischaracterisedbyextendedperiodsofbustand
boom(Sampson&Tang,2016).
The maritime labour market currently became
extremely global. Over 90 per cent of the seafarers
from the advanced economies work on board their
home fleets, while 80
per cent of seafarers from the
developing economies and over 60 per cent of the
seafarersfromtransitionaleconomiesworkonboard
the fleets of advanced economies. World shipping
industryhasofferedopportunitiesforseafarersfrom
developing countries and, increasingly, from
transitional economies to develop careers outside
theirhomecountry(Wu
&Morris,2006).
Work on board a merchant ship can be stressful
(Agterberg & Passchier, 1998). Today the seafarer
often works alone, comrades have finished eating
when he or she enters the mess, and the fun and
Finding a Balance: Companies and New Seafarers
Generation Needs and Expectations
V.Senčila&G.Kalvaitienė
LithuanianMaritimeAcademy,Klaipeda,Lithuania
ABSTRACT:METinstitution’smissionisnotonlypreparingyoungpeopleformaritimecareeratsea,forming
their professional competences, but also providing help in their career management. For this reason, it is
important to know new seafarers’ generation needs and career ambitions, as well as expectations
from
employers’pointofview.Mutualunderstandingwouldhelptofindabalancebetweenexpectationsofboth
and adequately manage changes. Results of research, conducted by surveying 4th year full‐time students
studyingattheLithuanianMaritimeAcademyandexpertsfromshippingandcrewingcompaniesinLithuania
andLatviaregarding
desirablecontractconditionsandseafarers’personaland/orprofessionalcharacteristics,
importantforsuccessfulcareer,arepresentedinthearticle.
http://www.transnav.eu
the International Journal
on Marine Navigation
and Safety of Sea Transportation
Volume 12
Number 2
June 2018
DOI:10.12716/1001.12.02.08
286
excitement of port visits has disappeared (Ljung &
Widell, 2014). Seafaring careers entail long‐term
separation between seafaring couples, which make
seafarer‐partnersfeelthattheylivedifferentlifestyles
and that nonseafaring people could not fully
appreciate their experiences (Tang, 2010; Thomas at
al.,2003).
The motives to become a
seafarer have in recent
decades changed. The myth of the exciting and free
lifeatseahaslargelybeencracked.Researchonhow
the major changes that permeated the work content
andtheorganisationhaveinfluencedyoungpeopleʹs
motivationtochooseacareerinseafaringprofession
ishardto
find(Ljung&Widell,2014).
The hiring practices of shipping industry
employers should be targeted at meeting the career
expectations of recruits (Caesar & Cahoon, 2015):
whatfuturecareerambitionsdotheyhave,including
wheredotheyhopetobeemployedintenandtwenty
years’ time, and what do they
know about the
workingcareerofseafarers?
Lately MET institutions and shipping industry
admit new young seafarers’ generation, called
generationZ,thosewhowerebornduringthemiddle
1990sandlate2000s.
The main categories describing differences
betweengenerations are:socialenvironment,
technological environment and historical
environment.Characteristicsofthe
generationZvary
by cultural and regional environment but are most
impacted by technological development and
generation Z can be defined as “instant online”
(Levickaite,2010).
They are always online on any technical device
virtually,withnostop.Tosolveproblems,theytryto
findthesolutionsontheinternet.Arising
fromtheir
habit, they have different expectations in their
workplaces. We can speak about a careerist,
professionally ambitious generation, but their
technicalandlanguageknowledgeareonahighlevel
(Bencsikatal.,2016).
AuthorsindicatedifferentfeaturesofZgeneration.
Analysis that is more thorough allows determining
someother
featuringcharacteristicsofthisgeneration:
growing hyperactivity, infantilism, multimedia
literacy, loop reading, social autism, consumerism,
lackofanalyticalevaluationofcommunicationanda
text as well as its critical evaluation and etc.
(Targamadze,2014).
Becauseofincreasingtheretirementage,often3or
4 generations are forced to cooperate and to
work
together. Based on the data, it is mainly the
communication and the difference in the way of
thinking that can cause difficulties in the process of
working together. The research justified that the
cooperationofdifferentagegroupscouldprovidenot
onlyconflicts,butalsopositiveresultsaswell
forthe
organisation(Bencsikatal.,2016).
GenerationZcanbringusanadditionaladvantage
tothehugeproblemthatwefaceintheindustry:the
overload of information. For example, think of the
navigator;hehas too muchinformationthrough the
many layers of ECDIS that simply cannot handle it.
Thisgenerationcanbetrainedatearlystagesortinga
lot of information quickly. Therefore, they will be
muchmoreable to process navigationalinformation
(Recruitment…,2017).
Becauseoftheglobalshortageofshipofficersand
the dynamic nature of the seafarer labour markets,
shipping industry employersneed to adopt
appropriatemeasurestoimprovethefuturesupplyof
maritimelabour(Caesar &Cahoon,2015). However,
thenew generationalsoshould beready to lookfor
thebalanceofinterestsandbeableforadaptationto
the working environment and changing
circumstances.
2 THERESEARCHMETHODOLOGY
2.1 Thesampleoftheresearch
The research was conducted by surveying 4
th
year
full‐time students studying at the Lithuanian
Maritime Academy, shipping and seafarer crewing
companiesinLithuaniaandLatvia.Thesamplingwas
basedontheprincipleoffreewill,i.e.allthefinalyear
students,whoattendedtheAcademyonthedaysof
the survey, were included into the sample.
Such
surveysamplingmethodisconsideredtobereliable.
In January 2017, 67 final year bachelor degree
studentsweresurveyed:outofwhich38percentwere
Marine Navigation study programme students, 62
percent were Marine Electrical and Marine Power
Plant Operation study programmes students. Other
respondentsweretheexpertsfromfive
shippingand
crewing companies in Lithuania and three shipping
and crewing companies in Latvia, where students
havehadseagoingpractice.
2.2 Research instrument
Thedataofthequalitativeresearchwascollectedby
using a written survey method. Original
questionnaires made by authors were used for the
survey.
Thestudentsof
theMaritimeAcademywereasked
abouttheplanneddurationofworkatseaandwhat
reasonswouldleadtotheterminationofaseafarer’s
career? The questions were aimed at identifying
students’expectationsandneedsrelatedtothework
at sea: regarding the term of voyage and working
conditions and their
opinion about the personal
and/or professional characteristics that determine
successfulemploymentofaseafarerandhiscareerin
acompany.Twoquestionswereaimedatidentifying,
whatimpactcommunicationwitholderseafarershad
during practice on board a ship and what means
facilitatedtheadaptation,copingwiththeroutineand
other emotional issues relevant to the final year
students.
Respondentsofthequalitativeresearchasexperts
include five shipping and crewing companies in
Lithuania, Klaipeda, and three companies in Latvia.
Meanwhile, a qualitative survey consists of four
questions.Thesequestionsrevealmainthingsthatare
important for settling the balance between
the
expectations and needs of shipping and crewing
companiesandyoungmaritimesectorspecialists:
287
1 Whatgeneralskills(foreignlanguages,teamwork,
etc.) and personal characteristics (reliability,
communication skills, etc.) are important for
seafarer’scareer?
2 What most significant changes took place during
the recent decade: regarding requirements for
seafarers and regarding seafarers’ expectations
andneeds?
3 What work/contract conditions (in addition to
salary and
term of voyage) are important for
youngseafarers?
4 What means are decisive for seafarers’ self‐
determinationtoworkinthecompanyforalong
term?
Only survey question regarding the term of
students’ future seagoing career was closed‐ended,
required a short single‐word answer. All other
questions were
open‐ended, designed to encourage
respondents’full, meaningful answers.Theobtained
data was processed using the content analysis
technique,interpretingandcodingtextualmaterial.
Figure1. Model of investigation of balance between
companiesandseafarersneedsandexpectations
3 RESULTSOFINVESTIGATION
3.1 Maritimestudentsopinionregardingthetermof
seagoingcareer
Theresearchwasaimedatidentifyinghowlongthe
finalyearstudentsareplanningtoworkatsea.
Figure2. Percentage distribution of the respondents’
opinions on the term of maritime career after the
completionofthestudies
Alargepartofthetotalnumberofrespondents(42
percent) was uncertain about the term of marine
career after the completion of the studies (Fig.2). 18
percent of respondents are planning to work at sea
untilretirement,9percentareplanningtoworkatsea
for6‐10years,9
percent–for11‐15years,2percentof
respondentsareplanningtoworkatseaupto5years.
From 67 final year maritime students, who
participated in the survey, most would terminate
theircareerbecauseofthefollowingreasons:
healthproblems,disease(N=44);
family,smallchildren
(N=36);
occupationalinjuries(N=28);
lowsalary(N=27);
longtermofvoyage(N=26);
poorworkingconditionsonboardaship(N=25);
psychologicalissues(N=5);
establishment of own business or another
adequatealternative(N=1).
Three respondents did not identify a reason that
wouldleadthem tothe
terminationof theseafarer’s
career.
3.2 Maritimestudents’needsandexpectationsregarding
desirablecontractconditions
Maritime students (67 respondents) were asked to
define,intheiropinion,thebestjoboffer.
Themostimportantfactorsdefiningajobofferas
the best one were named salary (bigger, payable on
time and
adequate to the position held) (N=59) and
shorteremploymentcontracts(N=53).Moststudents,41
percent expressed the opinion, that optimal voyage
term would be 1‐2 month, 33 percent named 2‐3
month and 26 percent named 3‐4 month voyage
duration.
Maritime students were asked about other
working/contract conditions (beside
salary and term
of voyage), which are important to them personally
andwouldmotivatethemtoworkatsea.
Besides salary and term of voyage, the most
important working/contract conditions named by
maritimestudentswere(Fig.3)thefollowing:
good relations between the members of the crew
(N=48),
good
employment contract and accommodation
conditionsonboardaship(N=31);
shipconditionandtype(N=27);
navigationarea(N=25);
qualityfood(N=23);
properconditionsforrestandsports(N=21);
goodreputationofthecompanyandtakinggood
careofemployees(N=21).
Students named good work tools and
good supply
(N=18) as important working/contract conditions.
Internet connection (N=17) and career opportunities
(N=13)wereindicatedasimportantaswell.
Only six students determined the opportunity to
travel, opportunity to see the world as important
working/contract condition to them personally and
wouldmotivatethemtoworkatsea.
288
Figure3.Maritimestudents’opinionaboutdesirableworking/employmentcontractconditions(besidesalaryandtermof
voyage)
3.3 Shippingandcrewingcompaniesexpertsopinion
aboutworking/employmentcontractconditions,most
importantforseafarers
Thecontentanalysisoftheexperts’opinionsrevealed
that the following working/employment contract
conditions are important to the seafarers and
determinetheirdecisiontoworkinacompanyfora
longperiod:
salary;
social
securityguarantees;
goodreputationandreliabilityofthecompany;
policyofthecompany;
termofemploymentcontract;
complianceofemploymentcontracttothelaws;
careeropportunities;
compositionofcrew(national);
navigationarea;
good microclimate on board a ship and
professionalassistanceof
thecrew.
3.4 Maritimestudentsand expertsopinionsabout
seafarers’desiredpersonaland/orprofessional
characteristics
Maritime students (67 respondents) and experts (8
respondents)wereaskedopen‐endedquestionabout
seafarerspersonaland/orprofessionalcharacteristics,
which determine their successful employment and
careerinacompany.
Shipping and crewing companies’ experts gave
very
similar responses, indicating their common
approach(Fig.4).Contentanalysisdiscoveredthatall
eight experts described professional and personal
features:professionalskills, goodtraining,responsibility,
communicationskills,teamworkskills,asmostimportant
forsuccessfulemploymentandcareer.Sevenofthem
also named foreign languages, reliability and tolerance.
Two of them
also noted as important the ability to
adapt to the marine shipboard living and working
monotonyandphysicalhealth.
Figure4. Experts’ opinions about seafarers’ desired
characteristics
Students named as most important features for
successful employment and career assertiveness and
diligence (N=26) and good professional skills and
knowledge(N=20).Afterthatindescendingorderthey
identified flexibility (N=17) and communicability
(N=13), responsibility (N=11), leadership (N=8),
professional experience (N=6), foreign languages and
motivation(N=5).
Figure5. Students’ opinions about seafarers’ desired
characteristics
Some overlaps and differences in opinions of
maritime students and shipping and crewing
companies’ experts were identified. Both groups,
students and companies’ experts, highly rated
professional skills, attitude (assertiveness, diligence,
responsibility) and communicability (teamwork,
flexibility). Thus, in general, the younger generation
of seafarers demonstrated good adaptability for
labour market needs,
taking over the main
companies’attitudesandapproachtowork.Hereitis
worth keeping in mind that students, who
289
participated in the survey, were final fourth year
maritime students, already having about one year
practicalexperience.
On the other hand, students evaluated as less
importantforeignlanguagesanddidnotnameatall,
as important, reliability and tolerance, which were
highlyratedbythecompanies’experts.
3.5 Theimpact
ofcommunicationwitholderseafarerson
thestudents’professionalknowledge,skillsand
attitude
Maritime students were asked about the impact of
communicationwitholderseafarersduringseagoing
practiceonboardashiponthestudents’professional
knowledge, skills and attitude to towards seafarer’s
career(Tabl.1).
Table1. Maritime students answers about the impact of
communication with older seafarers during seagoing
practice onboard a ship on their professional knowledge,
skillsandattitudetoaseafarer’scareer
_______________________________________________
Giventhe Understoodthespecificsofthejob(R7)
professional Learntthingsthathelpedtoperformmy
knowledge assignmentssafer(R46)
…howsomethingfunctionsandhowtodo
somethingbetter(R53)
…needRussianlanguageskills(R57)
Giventhe Promisingcareeropportunities(R17)
motivationto Madeagoodimpression,motivated
tostrive
seekaseafarer’s forcareerheights(R20)
careerMotivatedtostudyandgotoworkatsea,not
toabandonseafarer’scareer(R9)
Givenhelp,Changedmyattitudetoperformedwork(R34)
formingattitudeTheychangedmyattitudeto…(R43)
onseafarer’s Iwasadvisedtotryto
graspabiggerpicture
career(R27)
Enabledtounderstandthereallifeofa
seafarer(R23)
Ialwaystriedtocommunicatewiththemnot
onlyaboutwork,butalsoaboutlife,theygave
megoodpiecesofadvice(R58)
Helpedmetomakeupmymindon
future
career(R19)
Revealed Hardanddisadvantageouswork,notworth
negativeaspectsdoingduetolowsalaries(R67)
ofseafarer’s Therearenofriends,everybodywantsto
careerharmeachother(R53)
IfIfindajobonshore,workatseaisnot
worthchoosingit(R5)
Most
seafarersadvisedtocontinuestudies
andtoworkonshore(R40)
Tolookforasshortemploymentcontractsas
possible….(R37)
Dangerouswork(R55)
_______________________________________________
Maritime students noted positive impact of
communication with older seafarers’ generations on
their professional knowledge, on the motivation to
seek a seafarer’s career and help forming attitude
towards seafarer’s career. Besides, students during
the communication revealed negative aspects of
seafarer’s career, a phenomenon known as “learned
helplessness”(Ljung&
Widell,2014).
3.6 Conclusions
Maritime labour market, ship owners/managers and
seafarers, have changeable characteristics and it is
important to know new seafarers’ generation needs
andcareerambitions,aswellasexpectationsfromthe
employers’pointofview.
Presented in the article qualitative research was
conducted attracting experts from five shipping
and
crewing companies in Lithuania and three shipping
and crewing companies in Latvia and 67 final year
maritime students. The qualitative survey revealed
mainthings thatareimportantforsettlingthebalance
betweentheexpectationsandneedsofshipping and
crewing companies and young maritime sector
specialists’generation.
Answeringaboutthe
bestjoboffermostmaritime
studentsidentifiedsalaryandshort‐term(1‐2month)
voyages, which offer on the market is not so big.
Besides salary and term of voyage, students and
companies’ experts, as the most important
working/contract conditions, named good relations
between the members of the crew, good
reputation
and reliability of the company, navigation area. But
only students named as important ship’s type and
condition,goodaccommodationconditionsonboard
aship,qualityfoodandproperconditionsforrestand
sports, internet connection. As important
working/contract conditions students also named
good work tools and good supply, but did
not
mention social security guarantees, named by
companies’experts.
Analysing seafarers’ personal and/or professional
characteristics, which determine their successful
employmentandcareerinacompany,someoverlaps
anddifferencesinopinionsofmaritimestudentsand
shipping and crewing companies’ experts were
identified. Both groups, students and companies’
experts, highly rated
professional skills, attitude
(assertiveness, diligence, responsibility) and
communicability(teamwork,flexibility).Ontheother
hand, students evaluated as less important foreign
languages and did not name at all, reliability and
tolerance,whichwerehighlyratedbythecompanies’
experts.
Maritime students noted positive impact of
communication with older seafarers’ generations on
their professional knowledge, on the motivation to
seek a seafarer’s career and assistance in forming
positiveattitudetowardsseafarer’scareer.However,
during the communication older seafarers conveyed
tothestudentsnegativeaspectsofseafarer’scareeras
well.
In general, the younger generation of seafarers
demonstrated good adaptability for labour market
needs,takingoverthemaincompanies’attitudesand
approachtowork.
Accordingly,shippingindustryemployersneedto
be readytoadopt appropriate measures to keep the
balancebetweenthe needsandexpectationsofboth,
seeking to improve the future supply of maritime
labour.
290
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