Davis 1 Anastasia Davis English 1102 Malcolm Campbell 8 April 2013 Technology, Millennials and the Future Workforce:

Positive or Negative? Imagine graduating from college with honors in a business management degree. You feel that the whole business world at your feet. Following graduation, you had responses to all of your resumes, and you had multiple job offers thrust at you. Standing where you are, you think that joining the modern day workforce and business world looks like a piece of cake. However, within the first couple of weeks at your new dream job, you realize that your knowledge base is are completely different from your co-workers. Being the first to join this company in your generation has set up obstacles that business school didnt prepare you for. Being raised in a generation where technology is a habit rather than a foreign system that seems impossible to grasp is frustrating for both the Millennial Generation and the generation hiring them. Is the millennial generations vast knowledge of technology a positive or negative in terms for serving in the work force? When defining the different generations, many people are confused about when a generation starts and ends, and what different characteristics are unique to each of the different generations. According to Maryam M. Kaifi, author of the academic article A Multi-Generational Workforce: Managing And Understanding Millennials, the Baby Boomer generation begins in 1946 and ends in 1964, Generation Y begins in 1965 and ends in 1984 and the Millennial Generation begins in 1985 and ends in 2004 (Kaifi). In depth knowledge about these generations is

Davis 2 needed in helping to determine the usefulness of the different characteristics that are used in the business world. Although, many people still define the generational periods (years) differently, there is never more than a 5 year difference. Baby Boomer Generation The Baby Boomer generation had one of the first substantial population growth spurts that America experienced. After World War II, service men returned home to their wives, and families began multiplying. Unlike the other generations that preceded them, Baby Boomers were the first generation to get out of the slump of unemployment trend into which many had fallen (Kaifi). With more education due to the GI Bill, this generation experienced many financial opportunities, and more social interactions. Terms like optimism and achievement are used to describe the Baby Boomer generation. Coming from a time where hard work and motivation were essential to survive in the work force, Boomers set the bar high in achieving their goals, then pushed those goals farther and continued to chase them. Most companies in todays society are run by CEOs, CFOs, and COOs who were born into the Baby Boomer generation (Kaifi). That being said, Margaret F. Schulte, author of The Millennials: Challenges, Opportunities and Promise states in her academic journal that many Baby Boomers have worked non-stop to get where they have ended up, and are continuing to go above and beyond to stay there (Schulte). For the first time, the Baby Boomer generation made enough money to have more in life; more to spend, more to play with and more to save. More people would go out and spend their money driving the economy. The Boomers also started a trend with investing in retirement funds to continue that lifestlye. However, within the next few years, many workers in the Baby Boomer generation will retire and leave their companies to be taken over by the newer generations.

Davis 3 Baby Boomers posses certain characteristics that are easily identifiable to their generation. They are highly idealistic, organized, loyal, and workaholics. They have a love-hate relationship with technology, are career oriented, and also answer easily to authority (DiGiacinto). These generational characteristics are not only important for recognizing social differences in the workplace; it is also relevant to understanding advancements as a whole in the workplace.

Generation X Following after the Baby Boomers, Generation X was shaped into a very vast and well rounded generation of workers. Having dealt with the Vietnam War, a different array of political figures, and many other worldly issues, Generation X was bound and determined to be successful in whatever field they chose. Most large technology companies, such as Apple and Microsoft, were formed during the Generation X period which introduced new technologies like the personal computer and the Internet, something completely foreign to generations before then. Other inventions like video games, cable television, and rock music also shaped this generation. Another role that changed during this generation was the role of women in the workforce. Women entered the workforce during the war, while the men were fighting. After the war, for the first time, the rate of women in the workplace increased while women staying at home decreased (Kaifi). With many families now becoming two-income families, the opportunity to spend more money provided many families with more luxuries. This disposable income meant that many children were introduced to new and exciting types of technology. In addition, with both parents at work all day, children often gained a new sense of responsibility and this is where independence is first seen as a prominent characteristic in Generation X. They are often referred to as Latchkey

Davis 4 Kids, which is a term used to describe children coming home to an empty house while their parents are out at work, running errands or have some other obligation (Kaifi). After watching their workaholic parents, the Baby Boomer generation, many Generation Xers didnt feel the need to work as hard, and were very willing to change jobs to get ahead, rather than work overtime (Kaifi). According to Dora DiGiacinto, M.Ed., RDMS, RDCS, and contributing author and researcher to the University of Oklahoma Health and Science Centers Education Grand Rounds, Generation Xers are also cynical, skeptical, defy authority and resist hierarchy. Millennials Having grown up in a society where everything is centered around technology, the Millennial Generation, sometimes referred to as Generation Y, is unique when compared to other generations. Many people believe that the Millennial Generation is considered sheltered due to the fact that they can obtain unwarranted success (DiGiancinto). An example would be a child on the soccer team that is absolutely terrible. He scores on his own team, and instead of getting taken out of the game, he is given a participation medal at the end of the game. This simulates reward, regardless of the fact that he probably should not play soccer, or at least not get a medal. This receiving without trying trait has been passed on throughout the current generation and now Generation Y is considered to be overly confident, sheltered and too optimistic. (DiGiacinto). Millennials are also very team oriented (a quality taught in school to break up excessive workload among the different students). They like to take collective action, they are more accepting of authority, and expect technology in all forms of work. In many situations, Millennials are uneducated in the basics and unaware of how to accomplish tasks without technology. This is

Davis 5 almost reverse of the problem that earlier generations were trying to overcome. Despite being surrounded by all different forms of technology, they thrive with multi tasking skills (Deal).

Millennials in the Workforce With the first member in the millennial generation entering the workforce in 2004, many changes have been put into place throughout the past few years. Technology is now being considered the biggest issue, and both Millennials and their employers (Baby Boomers and Generation Xers) are wondering if the current generations advancement in technology is harming the business world by taking away necessary social skills and vital social interactions or propelling the business world into a place where efficiency and accelerated production are always the main priorities, regardless of the cost (Hershatter). Different opinions are being pulled across a thin line, and it almost seems as if there is no answer. Still the question remains; what role does technology play in the Millennial Generations future in the workforce? Being described as the Next Greatest Generation (the Greatest Generation served in WWII), the Millennials are equipped with tools and technology that can and will help the world greatly. Also known as Generation Whine, Millennials have been considered to be incapable of handling anything that is not already almost completed (Herschatter). The Millennial Generation is wired differently, according to Andrea Herschatter, author of Millennials and the World of Work: An Organization and Management Perspective. Having grown up with different forms of technology, all being used at once, Millennials excel in multitasking, a skill that is learned from an early age and is very difficult to teach. As a result of using technology frequently, Millennials also do well with filtering information, a vital necessity for many companies in todays society, and are

Davis 6 very adaptable and open-minded to different work environments such as working in a multicultural office, expanding into different countries or travelling to different countries for work, as opposed to Baby Boomers who are known to stay on the straight and narrow, and not venture out of their comfort zones. Jennifer Deal author of Millennials At Work: What We Know and What We Need To Do (If Anything) says that the basic knowledge that millennials acquire in school in addition to the technological advantage that they were raised with appear to bemore advanced in comparison to past generations. Deal goes on to say: Older people today perceive younger people as using too much slang, having poor communication skills, and being difficult, and entitled. When these now older people were the age of the Millennials today, previous generations used the same descriptors to characterize them. In short, there is a growing body of research indicating that the beliefs about whichever younger generation is entering the workforce has remained stable over the past 40 years. Many people in the older generations have pre judged the Millennials, creating an unforgiving work environment. An mistake can be perceived as an intentional error with the excuse that the Millennial Generation is ill-equipped for specific jobs. Many misunderstood errors have two things in common: technology and the people using it. Ignorance and unawareness like this can cause problems within the workforce between the different generations. Baby Boomers and Generation Xers can benefit greatly from how comfortable the Millennials are with using technology. If they are open-minded to the acceptance of the Millennials as their new vessel into the Digital Age and are willing to accept the changes that will come and are eager to learn from the Millennials, the differences in the generational gap would shrink at a

Davis 7 rapid rate. Whether for speed and efficiency, convenience or to join the go green trend, most companies are making the switch from paper to hard drive and it is imperative for older generations to be led by the Millennials in this area. With businesses dependant on service, customers, consumers or users, it is important to be able to offer the most up to date software, and that is something that most Boomers and Generation Xers might not be familiar or comfortable with. Since technology is constantly changing and growing, knowing how to master new tasks quickly is the key to success, and that is exactly what the Millennials can offer to their companies. On the contrary, Boomers and Generation Xers were raised in a time where first impressions, face to face interactions and peoples opinions were the foundation of the workforce. With personal meetings often being replaced with mass e-mails and text messages, many Baby Boomers and Generation Xers are hesitant to leave their businesses in the hands of people that, since technology has been around, havent fully developed their personal or social skills (Shulte). Due to the astonishingly vast increase in technology, it is uncertain as to whether or not personal relationships will be as vital in the workforces future as they were in the past. However, Dr. Rene Mueller, a Business Marketing Professor at the College of Charleston (and a Baby Boomer) still believes that personal interactions are important in the workforce. She Has a rule prevents any forms of technology in her class. This includes cell phones and laptops. Her preferred method of contact is through her scheduled office hours, not through email. She believes that younger generations (specifically Generation Y) are not getting the exposure to certain social aspects, such as reasoning and respect, which are required to do well in the business world and within the work force. She claims she has a hard time responding to her students when they have no proper business/social etiquette. She, amongst others in the workforce, cannot accept that some Millennials think that it is okay to replace you with u, are with r, and to treat

Davis 8 important business matters with such casualty that they add LOL (Laughing Out Loud) to the end of work emails. She has come to the conclusion that this dividing line that separates business and personal interactions has been breached. Her opinion is shared by Baby Boomers and Gen Xers whose standards deem it wildly inappropriate. In Conclusion With understanding of what each generation understands to be appropriate or not, and a clear view on why the generations are different and unique, it is still too early to fully understand the effects that technology has brought forth. Technologys progression has brought negative and positive results in multiple ways and will keep progressing regardless. Older generations will always accuse the younger of being incompetent, and the younger generations will always be educated in ways that are different from what their elders were taught. Older generations must come to terms with the fact that younger generations are taught differently because technology is growing and changing constantly, and to keep up with its rapid expansion, Millennials and younger generations must learn how to utilize these skills and be able to use them to their best advantage. Although it sometimes seems that by learning these new ways, other important factors have been sacrificed, it seems too early to see how greatly these lost qualities will affect the companies. Because of technologys ability to provide such different outcomes in certain situations, there is no telling at the moment whether it will be harming the Millennial Generations role in the work force or enhancing it for the better.

Davis 9 Works Cited Deal, Jennifer, David Altman, and Steven Rogelberg. Millennials At Work: What We Know And What We Need To Do (If Anything). Journal of Business &Psychology 25.2 (2010): 191-199 Business Source Complete. Web. 11. Mar. 2013. DiGiacinto, Dora. "The Dynamics of a Multigenerational Classroom and Clinical Environment." Education Grand Rounds . University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, 15 Jan. 2010. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. Hershatter, Andrea, and Molly Epstein. Millennials and The World of Work: An Organization and Management Perspective. Journal of Business & Psychology 25.2 (2010):211-223. Business Source Complete. Web. 11 Mar. 2013 Maryam M. Kaifi, et al. A Multi -Generational Workforce: Managing And Understanding Millennials. International Journal of Business &Management 7.24 (2012):88-93 Business Source Complete. Web. 11 Mar. 2013. Mueller, Dr. Rene. Personal Interview. April 2013. Schulte, Margaret F. The Millennials: Challenges, Opportunities, and Promise. Frontiers of Health Services Management 2012:1 + Business Source Complete. Web. 11 Mar. 2013.