Several days ago a random tweet captured my attention. In response to a presentation regarding “the pitfalls of hiring millennials” a 50-year-old proudly tweeted “that’s why I will never hire a millennial”. Really?
One cannot ignore the facts; in 2015 over 50% of the workforce will be in their 20’s and by 2030 75% of the talent pool will be categorized as a millennial. How does a millennial fit into the future landscape of the corporate world? What is so different about hiring people from the selfie generation? Certainly my 50-year-old twitter “friends” assessment of an entire generation is unfounded? Or is it? Check out a few stats along with my assessment of each one.
- 33% of young professionals under age 30 prioritize social media freedom over salary; Why would you not allow social media freedom? Create a great corporate culture and let the free marketing of your organization flow! This doesn’t mean you will get them cheap, but if the comp is close, open culture will win out.
- 70% of college grads leave their first job after graduation within two years; Perfect, get a bit of experience and come work for our amazing start-up, time to put the current graduating class on a two-year campaign.
- 3 out of 5 students expect to be able to work remotely; great, smaller or no office space means lower overhead and we can take advantage of social media and video conferencing for meetings. Create desk shares and reduce square footage and geography becomes less an issue.
- 30% started a business in college; bring that knowledge and thirst here! Perhaps a new company perk for companies should be “work for us and 2-3 years from now we assist you in starting your own (non-competing) business”.
- 40% thinks blogging about workplace issues is acceptable; make the workplace awesome and blog away, offer them access to the company blog and talk about the business (not all business, but some).
- 69% want more freedom at work; and 100% of employers want results…you can have all the freedom you want as long as the results are there. Freedom of thought means products and services become more creative.
- 75% want professional mentors; done….and most employers want employees to ramp up quickly and to learn from their best.
- 91% expects to stay in their current job fewer than three years; go back to #4, turn that into a positive.
- 72% entering the workforce want to make a direct social and environmental impact; most companies want a well-rounded employee, someone with depth, so this works out perfect.
I own a start-up and stuff changes around here everyday! Millennials are programmed with an entrepreneurial mindset and strong desire to get stuff done! My prediction for the future; large companies will need to adjust their work styles with intrepreneurial elements allowing for free thinking, personal responsibility and focus on open communication.
Millennial does not equal lazy no more that baby boomer equals hard work. People are people and the future talent pool is changing whether you accept it or not. Today’s 15-year-old will be a driving force for our organizations in the very near future. Does that scare or excite you? Either way you can’t change it.