Managing Millennials Today 's Workforce

Every generation is influenced by its period 's economic, political and social events. From the Great Depression to the civil rights and women 's movements to the advent of television and advanced computer technologies. Thus generational background/situation may also affect the way they work. The key is to be able to effectively address and take advantage of the differences in values and expectations of each generation in the workplace. The current work place consists of four different generations; The Baby Boomers (1946-1964) who are slowly retiring and existing the workforce, The Generation X (1965-1976), The Generation Y or millennia (1977-1997), and the Generation Z who are about to or are just entering the work force. Although these different generations tend to want similar things in a workplace their environment/background has shaped their character, values, and expectations (Hahn 2011).

Upon reflecting on the three main generations that comprise the workplace today, a few differences emerge. “Baby Boomers” grew up in a time when movements were prominent, the Vietnam War occurred, key figures were assassinated, the Watergate Scandal occurred, and television was introduced (Twenge et al., 2010; Schullery, 2013). Overall, “Baby Boomers” seem to exhibit a distrust of authority, value hard work, and want to enjoy their achievements (Robbins & Judge, 2015; Twenge et al., 2010). As such, they are results driven and give their utmost effort (Robbins & Judge, 2015). “Generation X” grew up in a time of computers, divorce, two career parents, MTV, and economic uncertainty (Twenge et al., 2010; Robbins & Judge, 2015). For the most part, they seem to exhibit the workplace behaviors of independence and a lack of commitment to employers (Twenge et al., 2010). They value a balance between work and life and place more focus on extrinsic rewards such as monetary compensation (Twenge et al., 2010). “Millennials” grew up in prosperous times with technology dominating the era and over-protective parents (Robbins & Judge, 2015; Schullery, 2013). Generally, they seem to place a greater value on employee benefits, leisure time, teamwork, and open communication (Society of Human Resource Management, 2004; Twenge, 2010; Myers & Sadaghiani, 2010). In addition, they have also been given the labels of “self-centered” and “entitled” (Myers & Sadaghiani, 2010).

As generation Y, the first group to come of age in the new millennium, grows and matures, they have entered the workforce at an increasingly high rate, making them the fastest growing segment of the United States workforce (Dorsey, 2010, pg. 15). These “youngsters” are typically in their early 20’s to early 30’s, still in the early and formative stages of their careers (Wain, 2013, pg. 308). Joining these Millennials in the workforce are those known as Generation X, consisting of the middle generation born from around 1965-1984 (Wain, 2013, pg. 308). At the far end of the age-workforce spectrum sit the Baby Boomers – those born between the years of 1946 and 1964 (Kaifi, Nafei, Khanfar & Kaifi, 2012, pg. 89). And finally, the oldest generation still trying to eke out their last paychecks before retirement is the Traditionalists, born between the years of 1937 and 1945 (American Medical Writers, 2012).

The Baby Boomers: In today’s fast growing workforce, this generation is known to be hard workers as well as excellent teams players. They are loyal workers, exercise self-control and are self-willed due to the fact that quite a few of the early Boomers had to compete for schooling and jobs when they were teenagers. Because of this, they feel a sense of obligation to fit in and dedicate themselves to their position; usually relishing in the accomplishments of their job. Because of this sacrifice, most Boomers view their jobs with a sense of fulfilment that gives them a feeling of self-worth in light of that achievement. This generation was once leaders; however, now they are being led by the younger generation of workers (Phillips, 2016). The computer made its debut during this era. It was mainly found in the business world and in academia. As a matter of fact, many Boomers seemed to be more suspicious of computers and were resistant to this form of technology. Many however were not subjected to operating computers; And, simply avoided them as much as possible.

Over the past 100 years, many analysts can see evident a rise and decline of the United States population. Looking further into the demographics there are currently 73 million millennials aging from 18 to 34 that will soon account for one in three adults by 2020 (Catalyst, 2012). However, despite the increase of millennials, the overall U.S population continues to grow older. Retirement is a subject of the past in this decade and many over the age of 65 are living and working longer thanks to better health and stability in jobs. In fact, the population of older Americans is expected to more than double by 2060 (Catalyst, 2012). Looking at these statistics overall, we are seeing an increase in both generations meaning they are most likely going to have meet face to face within the workplace. This in result, has made it possible to have five generations in the workplace simultaneously. This is truly remarkable and can have a great effect on a business. Looking in the past at how much has changed in the few years, there was only 10.8% of the 65 year old crowd still working in 1985. Presently, thanks to the U.S Bureau Labor Statistics predicts for the year 2020 will comprise of 22.6% of 65 year olds still working (Ganett Company, 2014).

Replacing Millennials with baby boomers is a problem because they do not want to take on the traditional style of work and life balance. Because of this, Millennials are more than likely to resign from their high-paying positions. Graen & Grace (2014) used the word “traditional” to describe the work life Millennials try to avoid. “Traditional” means repetitiveness of tasks performed at home and work. Millennials leave their high-paying positions because their daily routines of going to work and coming home each day seems boring to them. In the work setting, Millennials become uninterested in their work routine since they have already acquired all of the skills and knowledge required for their positions. Millennials have the urge to work outside

In this article, Wisenberg discusses how the Millenials are changing the work environment through developing technology. Because the Millennials are starting to dominate the workforce, the environment has gone through drastic changes. Just as much as technology, Wisenberg notes how the Millennials are bringing more focus to a more practical, more community-oriented family and workplace as well as demanding heavier technology to fulfill these preferences. They wish to fulfill a work-life balance and to become well-rounded people who want to work for a job they love instead of for a job with good pay.

The generations that are in the work place currently are the Silent Generation, Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y. The Silent Generation were born 1930-1945, the Baby Boomers were 1946-1964, Generation X was 1965-1979 and Generation Y or the Millennials were born from 1980-2000. (Devaney, 2015). Each generation has different traits attributed to them based on the differences of the environment they were raised in and what the work force was like when they entered it. Generation grew up with Vietnam whereas Baby Boomers grew up with economic success. (Devaney, 2015). These differences nurtured different traits which worked into different working values. For example, the Baby Boomers are generally thought to be workaholics whereas Millennials

The Baby Boomer Generation, born from 1946 to 1963, are called a generation of workaholics. This was a time of social reform in civil rights, exploration into outer space and the Cold War with communist regime. Society adopted a more relaxed attitude towards sex and they experienced a period of political assassinations. They are optimists who value teamwork and a strong work ethic. (Hartnett and Matan)

Kyles (2005) defines them as competitive, political, hardworking, and nonconformists. “Known for their workaholic ethic, Boomers will do whatever it takes to get the job done and get ahead, and they expect to be rewarded. They outnumber all generations and hold a majority of management-level positions. They are also approaching retirement and are heavily concerned with financial and job security” (Kyles, 2005, p. 54). This group is very hard working and also offers a lot of wisdom that can be beneficial to those of the younger generations.

“The number of employees over the age of 55 has increased by 30 percent; however, the number of 25- to 54-year-olds has only increased by 1 percent” (Claire, 2009). In 2008 the eldest of the 77 million baby-boomers turned 62. Estimates are that by the end of the decade about 40 percent of the work force will be eligible to retire. As people begin to reach the age of retirement there may be not be enough new employees to fill the gap (Clare, 2009). Companies need to find ways to attract Boomers and Millennials. Companies that want to attract Boomers and Millennials need to be creative in their culture, HR policies and work environments.

Millennials have already surpassed the number of baby boomers and have become the majority of the workforce in the U.S, and that number will keep on continuing to increase. But instead of expecting a stronger workforce where the old and new generation would work together to overcome the difficulties, businesses have been struggling in the hiring of millennials. The work environment has changed radically over the years and that has led to several differences between the generations. More than 53% of hiring managers are experiencing difficulties in employing and retaining millennials , and that percentage keeps on increasing as employment turnover keeps growing.

The workplace is ever changing. There are currently four generations in the work environment today, and because of longer life expectancies it will soon by five as the youngest generation enters the workforce joining the current four. Generational transitions in the work environment cause the shift of power to be handed from one generation to the next. These transitions are complex but they have never bypassed a generation. Today 's workplace is overlooking an entire generation, that generation is Generation X. Current power holders, Boomers, are bypassing Generation X and handing the reins to Millennials. Failing to utilize Generation X is a mistake, and managers can maximize employees my utilizing this overlooked sector of the workforce.

Arpon (2008) argues that the exit of baby boomers and entry of millennials into the workforce has altered the general work scape, since millennials do not see their lives revolving around work. Rather, personal life takes center stage and work has to revolve around it. A good example to highlight how this works is the work environment designed by American technology giant and one company known for its innovative talent management, Google

The twenty somethings of Generation X who are currently in the work force entered the labor market with no expectations. Many of them believe the best years (in terms of society) are behind them (Howe and Strauss 1993). They have been told that they are the "only generation since the Civil War to come of age unlikely to match their parents' economic fortunes" (ibid., p. 7). They place little faith in job security. "They saw their parents laid off without cause and their perceptions of the working world were shaped in time of economic turmoil. Consequently, they tend to see every job they take as temporary and every company as a stepping stone to something better, or at least to something else" (Filipczak 1994, p. 23). Since they have adopted the philosophy that there are "no guarantees," they are not interested in working their way up. They want to be valued immediately for their skills (Bradford and Raines 1992). They see their career strength in their ability to solve problems and do jobs that others are not able to do. "They believe that security nowadays comes from the transferability of one's skills to other jobs rather than from advancement in hierarchically managed organizations" (Wilkinson 1995, p. 67). They use job hopping as a way to build their skills and make themselves more marketable (Filipczak 1994, p. 27).