There’s a very interesting discussion that’s been circling around amongst the recruiting ranks that deals with the topic of the Millennials. According to census data, the Millennials make up the largest generation to enter the workforce since the baby boomers. A few weeks back the Washington Post had and article on Millennials and how the came to be they way they are today.
Now we know how big of an impact the baby boomers made on our economy. Some notable baby boomers are Steve Jobs, Bill 
Gates and Larry Ellison and anybody else born between the years of 1945 and 1960. I am still wondering if this generation will ever really retire because I can’t ever imagine these super ambitious take-on-the-world busy-bodies ever hanging up their gloves for good. We’ll find out soon enough because their retirement from the work force is supposed to create the biggest employee shortage in the history of our country. Good for recruiters and candidates, bad for employers. But this is a completely different topic that we’ll discuss another time.
The reason all of us in the recruiting ranks are discussing the Millennials is because our workforce has never seen an entire generation of workers so ready to buck the trend and force all employers to question nearly everything they have known to be true over the past 50 years. We debate the Millennials because for as many people that have come to appreciate their qualities and abilities, there are just as many who swear to avoid hiring their entire generation.
By definition, a millennial is somebody born between the years 1980 and 2000. Although the Millenials are still a bit young to have made their mark on the world (unless your name is Mark Zuckerberg and you founded Facebook), the success that this generation will bring to the technology world will be paramount compared to any other preceding generation. There are many articles written around the web that discuss the characteristics that the Millennials possess for example a post on Seattle PI titled Meet the Millennials or this great fact sheet put out by Deloitte.
Below is a condensed list:
- They don’t know the meaning of growing up without digital technology
- Multitaskers
- Need to know
- Take time to make difficult or life changing decisions – they don’t want to be pinned down to one opportunity incase something better comes along
- Diverse learning styles
- Patience is not in their blood
- They need constant feedback on how they are doing
- Tech savy – they spend many hours on the internet and can be seen sending text messages to friends while on a phone call with a client
- Work-Life Balance – they want to come into work at 10 and leave by 6. An 80 hour work week is unknown to them
- Straight to the point – they don’t mess around and aren’t afraid to let their opinions be known
You bring up a lot of interesting points. However, you didn’t clarify well enough the age of Millennials. The Post said 1982 to 2003. How can that be? Your fact sheet says 1981 to 1993. You said 1980 to 2000. Really?
The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide at http://boomersurvive-thriveguide.typepad.com
The millenials age ranges depending on the source. Many sources say the millenial generation began in ‘82, but I was born in ‘80 and am definitely a millenial. It’s general time frame, not exact dates.
I have to agree with the second comment on this one. We are still in the process of defining this millenial generation, which I have also heard called generation Y. Therefore, I think the lines are still a bit hazy in terms of exact start and end dates for this generation.
My guess is that until a next generation beyond the millenials is defined, I expect the date lines to stay a bit fuzzy.
Boris
I’ve heard it said that Millenials don’t like being labeled (”Millenials” or “Generation Y”), and that they don’t like to do thankless jobs where they don’t have influence on the overall direction of the company.
Do either of those traits really make them unique? As someone born of the prior generation (born in 1970), I also do not like being labeled (”Generation X”), nor did I like the first couple of lousy jobs I had to take after graduating from college. Show me the people who like being labeled or who enjoy thankless jobs.
As time passess, I think we’ll find that Millenials will have about the same workforce profile as previous generations: 25% are brilliant, 25% are lazy slugs, and the 50% in the middle are in the process of moving into one of the other 2 categories.
thinktank, u r right on with this one. Sometimes I think we forget how the Boomer Generation, the Swinging 70’s, the Flower Power, Age of Pot, age of Protests and Marches… these boomers were thought of as Useless, arrogant, egotistical, obnoxious, lazy, and so on..
Their parents and parents parents had little tolerance for them and then they grew up, just like the Generation “Y” shall themselves.
Labor Shortage, I question that there will be a labor shortage – the Last Boomer is expected to retire in about 25 years, and by then we will have the GrandKids of the Gen Y entering the Workforce.. Not to mention the Supply and demand. With lack of demand there is a lack of supply.
FYI – there were a Million Less Jobs Last Year than the Year Before — 2 TIMES less jobs than the year before, and that was less than the previous year — BUT Yet, we had 10’s of Millions ENTERING the workforce through Graduation (Highschool, and college), divorce, Visas, and such like.. We had a surge of individuals NOT Retiring (85 percent of boomers are postponing retirement) – I guess I wouldn’t worry about a war for talent, or shortage of talent, but become more concerned about if we actually can support the growing potential workforce with actual employment..
Karen M
Karen, ThinkTank. I don’t think that labeling a generation with a set of qualities has anything to do with whether or not that generation likes or wants the labels. Nobody likes labels, but they’re important when recruiters, managers and organizations are trying to figure out how best to manage, recruit and retain any certain group of individuals. I am a gen xer and although I believe I am individual and don’t want to be labeled, the truth is that I likely possess a certain set of characteristics that if noted could help an organization set the appropriate environment to recruit and retain me. Of course there are anomolies, but generally speaking I think what I am saying is correct. It’s like if you’re going to start going business in Japan for example, it’s important to understand the characteristics of the Japanese people in order to setup the appropriate work/business environment. Or setting up a business in Europe. Try getting away with offering 2 weeks of vacation to the Europeans. You’ll find yourself managing a company/team of one.
And on the note of the labor shortage Karen, we’ll see what happens. I think we’ll see a major labor crunch in the next 5-15 years. All of the demographics I’ve read point to this inevitability. Time will tell.
Boris