It’s time to face the music: Millennials are here to stay, and will have a significant impact on daily operations as they swarm into position. Also known as Generation Y, millennials are highly connected, diverse and educated. They are ready to make a significant impact and most companies simply don’t understand the magnitude of change they will bring.
Take Facebook, for instance. These are the pros and cons of working at Facebook according to an article from Business Insider:
The best aspects of working at Facebook:
- “Stock options.”
- “Flexible work hours, work from home, 21 days of PTO.”
- “The food is awesome.”
- “Work is very social – no cubicles, you can walk over and talk”
- “More work than there are people to do.”
- “Great opportunity to grab what you can and shine.”
- “Everyone seems to genuinely be invested in making the product better.”
- “The world sees the impact of what you’re working on. All my friends and family use the product and it’s rewarding to work on something that keeps us all connected.”
- “The culture is very open internally were projects are discussed and ideas flow.”
- “The most valued benefit to working at facebook is the ability to basically set your own hours, freedom to work from home when you want and as much as you want/can, and all this with little to no interference from management.”
- “You really learn a lot, since you get thrown into the mix quite quickly.”
The worst:
- “No potential of any amount of ‘potential’ earnings once they go IPO is worth being treated like second-class citizens or just a fancier sweat shop.”
- “Politics are heating up as the pressure to succeed increases.”
- “Ripsticks hurt a lot when they hit you”
- “The open-desk style doesn’t work for everyone (like me), I find it hard to concentrate and end up working at home more than I would like to, just to catch up.”
- “Palo Alto kinda sucks; [it’s] a bit suburban for city dwellers.”
- “Sometimes there needs to be a clearer product vision earlier in the process”
- “Some of the younger folks here (and there are many) have never worked anywhere else and they have no idea how good the place is. This often leads to a sense of entitlement which would never fly at another company.”
- “The company is getting too big to let it grow freely. We need a bit more organization now.”
- “Management is inexperienced—typical for a company growing from a startup mode towards a more mature company“
It’s anticipated that by 2025, millennials will account for approximately 75 percent of the workforce. How do millennial minds differ from those of baby boomers and Gen X’ers? Companies are already preparing for the perpetual shift in demographics, with many even forming task forces to address any potential barriers.
Here are 4 things millennials will bring to the table:
- Millennials seek meaningful work. In other words — impact! Busy work will not fly for long. Overall, they care more about the work, rather than the office politics.
- Millennials have a different opinion on how the actual work gets done. They are more open to a flexible schedule rather than the traditional 9-5 job. But there is a huge issue — many companies are simply not ready for the virtual office atmosphere or flexible schedules.
- Millennials tend to have a more open and collaborative mindset, welcoming an open and honest culture of transparency. If there is a conversation, they will have no problem pulling up a chair and joining in. They are breaking hierarchical barriers and make no apologies for being seen or heard.
- Millennials take command of technology and make it work to their advantage. They are keen on building a collaborative organization to push company goals forward. The ability to leverage social networks and collaborative think groups are a plus.
