Respect. Positivity. Flexible Schedules. Money.
Millennials, or Generation Y, want a lot. The aforementioned traits are just a sampling of what America’s newest workforce demands.
Born between 1980-2000, Millennials are starting to invade the Knoxville employment landscape full-swing. Michael Silence, a writer/blogger for the News Sentinel, published a local story today on bridging the generational gaps that are set to plague regional businesses, both big and small.
Silence states that Millennials and Traditionalists (otherwise known as Veterans) share many common traits. More so than the other two generations currently in the workforce, Baby Boomers and Generation X.
I couldn’t disagree more.
Veterans were raised during hard times and were shaped by events such as the Great Depression, WWI and WWII. They have and most likely will remain after retirement very loyal to their institutions. Vets tend to manage with a military style, enforcing rigidity.
Millennials on the other hand were raised during prosperous economic times. Technology has always been readily available which has gifted many the ability to multitask; I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Veterans were faced with being shipped off to war. Millennials are faced with terrorism invading their own turf. Lastly, Millennials could be the most disloyal generation when it comes to their employer. You did read the word ‘money’ in my opening statement didn’t you?
As this new generation takes over the workspace, I can only hope that Knoxville businesses are ready. Office space should be designed so that Millennials can openly share ideas. After all, this is a group that loves some Facebook. Mentor programs should focus on older generations reaching down but businesses could find another edge if they implement reverse mentoring. Anyone interested in explaining Twitter to a Baby Booming CEO?
6 replies on “Watch Out Knoxville, Here Come the Millennials”
To your CEO boomer question.
In a manager’s meeting yesterday made up of decidedly non-Miillennials, the question was asked: “What is Twitter?”
Thankfully, the meeting was near the end. It was easier left unanswered. 🙂
I’ve found explaining Twitter takes more than 140 characters.
Jack, Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh wrote a good Twitter intro for those that are curious.
http://twitter.zappos.com/start
Penny Arcade is already running an amusing comic right now about twitter (not from a CEO standpoint, just another thing to explain).
I have found that a good number of my friends are more drawn to jobs with an open internet policy. “We” are used to doing our work with an IM client open so that we can flit between conversations and concentration. If I ever seek employment elsewhere, the internet use policy will be one of the first things I am interested in seeing.
As a historian, I am able to enjoy the fact that you can’t judge a generation based on another generation.
And that includes my own 🙂
@Mary J – Interesting that your friends seek an open internet policy.
@Amber – Thanks for stopping by. Headed to your blog via the link now.
[…] the opinion that Millennials are more like the Traditionalists. Casey Peters disagrees because of the defining reasons he lists here. I believe that both are right and both are wrong. And that sentence reeks of hedging bets. The […]