By Jennifer Blanchard
Welcome to “Generation Y,” a blog you’ll want to read if you’re interested in hiring and retaining members of this important generation of employees entering the workforce.
There is still much debate about which years constitute Generation Y, but for this blog, I’m defining Generation Y as people born between 1978 and 1990 (which is the most frequently used range).
And now let me introduce you to your future employees: the members of Generation Y.
Who We Are
Here are some at-a-glance facts about who Generation Y is:
- Consists of people born between the years 1977 and 1994
- Children of the Baby Boomers
- There are over 70 million people belonging to this generation, which makes us three times the size of Generation X
- The most ethnically diverse generation to date—1 out of every 3 Gen Y members is a minority
- Came of age in the most expansive economy in the 20th Century
- Most socially conscious generation since the 1960s—we’ve been told by our parents and teachers that we can make a difference in the world, so we’re doing it
- We believe education is the key to our success
- We’re not afraid to challenge the status quo
- We believe in our own self-worth and value enough that we’re not shy about trying to change the company we work for (or asking to be compensated for it)
- We live with a “speak your mind” outlook—we want our voices to be heard
- We are the “Digital Generation”—we grew up with technology, we’re comfortable using it and we keep up with it as it changes
What We’re About
I think Bruce Tulgan of Rainmaker Thinking said it best: “Generation Yers are independent, entrepreneurial thinkers who relish responsibility, demand immediate feedback, and expect a sense of accomplishment hourly. They thrive on challenging work and creative expression and love freedom and flexibility. They’re more than willing to tell you how to fix your team, department and organization even before they’ve gone through your orientation program. And they’ll do it with 'attitude'.”
Generation Y is a group of individuals who are ready and willing to jump in and get the job done. We’re go-getters who are up for any challenge. But we also want:
- To know we’ll be compensated fairly for the work we put in
- To spend our time doing something useful and meaningful
- Flexibility in our work schedules
- To hear that we’re doing a good job, or to find out what we can do better if we’re not
- To be able to speak up and know that our opinion matters
- To learn something we didn’t know coming into the job
Why You Should Hire Us
There are many reasons you should hire a member of Generation Y: we’ve got fresh perspective, we’re very adaptable, we’re efficient multi-taskers, we’re technologically savvy, etc.
But the 3 most important reasons to hire us are:
- Generation Y currently makes up 22.5 percent of the workforce
- Gen Y is the fastest growing segment
- Over the next 3 to 5 years, about 7 million more Gen Yers will join the workforce
So think about it—Is this a group of people your company can really afford to ignore? I don’t think so.
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