Young and ambitious? Drone maker DJI wants you
SHOTARO TANI, Nikkei staff writer
TOKYO — Companies overlook young employees at their own peril, Danny Zheng, vice president of Chinese drone maker DJI, suggested on Tuesday in a speech in Tokyo.
Addressing the Nikkei Global Management Forum, Zheng said he may well be the youngest speaker at the event, but at DJI he qualifies as “old.” “The average age of DJI employees is 27,” said Zheng, 33.
Founded in 2006, DJI now commands 70% of the global consumer drone market. Zheng pointed to the company’s youthful workforce as one of the reasons for its success.
“I think young people in big corporations struggle because their ideas are not well heard,” he said, explaining that DJI operates differently. “Just because they are young, it doesn’t mean they can’t make contributions like the senior members. I think young people tend to think outside of the box, and we like to give them the tools, resources and platform to shine.”
Zheng sees a shift in career choices by new graduates from universities in both Japan and China. More people are joining startups in the hope of putting their ideas into practice earlier than more established employers would allow.
The DJI executive issued an invitation to such ambitious young people. “I always say there is no such thing as a ‘best company,’ and there is no such thing as ‘best candidates,” he said. “At DJI, we always make it clear that we are not necessarily better than anyone else. But we are probably one of the better choices for people that don’t want the restrictions certain corporate cultures” would impose on them.
