Millennials will soon make up 40% of the workforce, and the changes they are bringing will better everyone in the long run.
Millennials are smart, they’re caring, they’re collaborative, they’re mobile, but more than anything, they want to be respected and to be given autonomy over their work.
Below I’ll share the 5 ways that Millennials are transforming work as we know it. This is based on research, as well as personal opinion (I’m a Millennial).
1. Remote Working
Millennials are on a mission to end the traditional 9 to 5. I think the rise of mobile computing had a lot to do with this, and as a Millennial, this was always something I struggled with while working.
Why should I be required to stay in an office until 5pm if I’m done with my work? If I’m not a morning person, could I come in at 10 and stay until 6? For a long time employers were not very flexible, but now flex time is almost standard as a company benefit.
Now I’m lucky enough to work for a company that offers unlimited vacations, and I really respect them for it.
A study reported that 45% of Millennials will choose flexibility over pay.
2. Generosity Is Key
First, let’s look at some data.
79% of Millennials want to work for a company that cares about how it impacts or contributes to society.
70% of Millennials count giving back and being civilly engaged as their top priority.
As a Millennial myself, I can tell you that this is hugely important. We want to work with companies that care about the environment, and that give back. I think Millennials (like most people), are sick of seeing companies do things that destroy lives all in the name of “shareholder value.”
This is a good thing, because companies have to be more conscious about the decisions they make.
3. Constant Feedback
As a Millennial, I can’t stress how important this is to us. We crave constant feedback. We’re always looking to optimize the way we work, and always trying to improve. We’re much more “agile in our approach to working, and part of agile methodologies is constantly reviewing and tweaking.”
In fact, 8 out of 10 Millennials want regular feedback from their boss.
4. Culture Is Important
Millennials are changing the way company culture works. This is also probably largely due to the internet, and tools like Facebook and Wikipedia, but Millennials are very open and collaborative.
Millennials are really pushing companies to go with more of a flat hierarchy, and are pushing to have more autonomy in their work. More and more we are seeing companies put much more trust into their employees. This is great news.
60% of Millennials who left their company indicated that the primary indicator was whether the company was a “good cultural fit.”
5. More Transparency
Millennials also love transparency. This is probably because of social media.
Now everything is out there, so it makes sense that this transparency would translate into the corporate world. For example, the company Hubspot is known for its radical transparency, and they share literally everything they’re legally allowed to on an internal company wiki.
A report by LifeWay Research shows that transparency was one of the four characteristics Millennials wanted in a leader.
Your turn. How do you think Millennials are changing the workplace?
Written by Jacob Shiar, 
Growth Manager at Officevibe. When he’s not reinventing the world over a glass of scotch, he likes to find new skills to learn.
Photo Credit – Hugh Macleod of Gaping Void