Millennials in the Workforce - Article from Today.com

[bc1206]

I just read this and I'm shocked that my age (33) is grouped in as a millennial. I make fun of millennials, dammit.


www.today.com/money/how-millennials-could-change-workplace-better-t30526?cid=sm_fb_fbn

This year, millennials will reach a major milestone, surpassing baby boomers and Gen Xers to become the largest generation in the American workforce, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census data.

Adults ages 18 to 34 now make up 1 in 3 American workers, Pew reports. And that number is only expected to grow as more millennials graduate from college and enter the workforce. What could that mean for the workplace? We asked millennials and workplace experts to weigh in.

More flexible work schedules

"For millennials, flexibility is so important," said Lindsey Pollak, The Hartford's millennial workplace expert and author of the bestseller "Becoming the Boss."

In The Hartford's 2014 Millennial Leadership Survey, conducted in coordination with Pollak, work-life balance stood as one of the top issues issues of importance to millennial workers. But Pollak said: "It's integration more than work-life balance. ... It's that understanding that work can take place anywhere."
Now that technology has made it so easy to work wherever you are, Kathryn Minshew, CEO and founder of millennial career site The Muse, said the lines between work and life blur. "A lot of people now are [always] connected, they're checking email after hours," she said. "If companies are going to ask that much of people, they have a responsibility to give more as well. I think that means giving people the opportunity to have a flexible work day."

Will millennials be worse off than their parents?

At The Muse, Minshew said, "We have different arrangements for different people based on how they work best and what they need to really enjoy and excel at what they do." One employee, for example, works from home once a week.

As employees are expected to work longer hours, such arrangements can become increasingly important in attracting and retaining the best candidates, said Dan Schawbel, founder of WorkplaceTrends.com and managing partner of Millennial Branding, a Gen Y research and consulting firm.

A renewed focus on growth and development

Millennials have gotten a bad rap as being lazy and entitled, but Pollak argues that is not what they expect in the work environment. Millennials want to know that work is a place of growth and development, where they can "find their purpose and be passionate about what [they] do."

Why do millennials get such a bad rap at work?

It's the role of the CEO and other executives to foster that type environment for employees said Minshew. How?

When asked in The Hartford study how an employer could demonstrate it was invested in helping them advance at the company, more millennial respondents chose training and development, feedback and coaching over cash incentives.

Flatter organizations

While older generations may be wary of younger millennials becoming the majority in the workplace, Pollak, a Gen Xer, assures that "millennials admire and want to work with other generations."

Maybe more closely than boomers and Gen Xers imagine.

Accessibility and open communication are inherent to a generation accustomed to emailing professors and tweeting directly at corporations and celebrities alike. That ethos is embodied by millennial executives like Minshew, who sits in an open room with her employees an arm's length away.

Many of their boomer parents, however, rose up in workplaces that were filled with cubicles and closed-door offices—places with distinct hierarchies and procedures. As millennials rise up the ranks that's likely to change.

"We are in a time of transition from command and control to whatever is going to be the millennial style, and I don't think anyone really knows what exactly that will be yet," said Pollak. "I think what will happen is a meeting in the middle."

[trafficgirl]

Jul 7, 2015 15:33:47 GMT -5 bc1206 said:

Why do millennials get such a bad rap at work?

Because they bring their parents in to work with them and try teaching said parents how to do work the actual employees are supposed to be doing.

@koko

[clseale]

Jul 7, 2015 15:33:47 GMT -5 bc1206 said:

I just read this and I'm shocked that my age (33) is grouped in as a millennial. I make fun of millennials, dammit.

This might make you feel better, but probably not. You're technically labeled as an aging millennial. YW! (I also have that label. :drink:) 

[panicked]

I'm 31 (an aging millennial, tyvm) and I think millennials get a bad rap. I know many enterprising young people who get lumped in with the entitled asshole group and its tough for them to break out of that. Although I suppose that can be said of anyone that isn't a rich, white male. That being said- FUCKING MILLENIALS.

[Deleted]

Well fuck. I should be bringing my mom to work?

I'm doing millennial all wrong.

[ginger]

Jul 7, 2015 16:16:26 GMT -5 kooshball said:

I keep saying most people around here are millennial but no one wants to believe it.

You seem grumpy lately.

Have some wine.

[clseale]

Jul 7, 2015 16:02:12 GMT -5 jodippls said:

Jul 7, 2015 15:57:46 GMT -5 clseale said:

This might make you feel better, but probably not. You're technically labeled as an aging millennial. YW! (I also have that label. ) 

It never makes me feel better when you say this!

LOL! I know. I suppose it depends on just how badly you want to distance yourself from the bulk of the generation, but it's a pretty brutal label.

[bc1206]

Jul 7, 2015 15:57:46 GMT -5 clseale said:

Jul 7, 2015 15:33:47 GMT -5 bc1206 said:

I just read this and I'm shocked that my age (33) is grouped in as a millennial. I make fun of millennials, dammit.

This might make you feel better, but probably not. You're technically labeled as an aging millennial. YW! (I also have that label. ) 

This is true!

[W.T.Faulkner]

NOT ALL MILLENIALS SUCK, OK!?!?!?

[itsme]

Yes!! I beat being in the millennial category by a year.

[panicked]

Jul 7, 2015 16:51:47 GMT -5 carrotsmakemefat said:

Why do early 30 something's not consider themselves millennial? Yes we're not like those in their early 20s. But we can represent millennials in an awesome way.

I embrace it. and I'm no where close to being a millennial hipster

I personally don't identify with a lot of the typical millenial things. I'm right on the line of gen x/millenial and neither group adequately represents my experiences.

[adhdfashion]

Jul 7, 2015 15:57:46 GMT -5 clseale said:

Jul 7, 2015 15:33:47 GMT -5 bc1206 said:

I just read this and I'm shocked that my age (33) is grouped in as a millennial. I make fun of millennials, dammit.

This might make you feel better, but probably not. You're technically labeled as an aging millennial. YW! (I also have that label. ) 

I will take aging millenial. It's slightly less horrifying.

[vanillacourage]

Jul 7, 2015 16:02:04 GMT -5 cjoy said:

"When asked in The Hartford study how an employer could demonstrate it was invested in helping them advance at the company, more millennial respondents chose training and development, feedback and coaching over cash incentives."

Pay attention to me!  Tell me why I'm special!

[Deleted]

I'm a millennial and an awesome employee, ha! As a manager, there are challenges with managing all ages of employee.

Kids right out of college do tend to think that college gave them a lot more skills than it really did, but professional maturity really turns a corner after just a year or two for most people. I bet that has always been the case. You have to wait for the real world to crush their dreams a bit.

It is tough to see people who don't feel empowered to act on their own though. Especially when they have a lot of confidence in their abilities but don't act. You just have to coach them differently.