I don’t know about you, but when I hear the word millennial or when I am interacting with a millennial, all I can think is, when did I get old?
Like you, I try to make myself feel better with comments like: I’m only as young as I feel, or I’m young in spirit or that I’m not getting older I’m just getting wiser. I’ve even heard some people say they are “millennial thinkers” in spite of their age or that they have a “millennial attitude” regardless of their age. OK, you can’t see me right now, but I’m rolling my eyes. I’m sorry, I mean “RME” for all you “millennial thinkers.”
I know I’m getting older. I feel it in my knees. I see it in my hair. Sometimes I can’t remember my zip code at the gas pump. I’ve been in meetings and forgotten the names of co-workers I see every day. Oh and I lose the remote control all the time, only to find it in my hand. About a month ago, I got my first pair of progressive bifocals and my mom sent me a text message that said “yes, that happens when you get over 40, LOL!”
I’ll be 45 this year. Another editor here in the office often tells me I’m still a kid. Well, that isn’t how I see it, or feel it. Sometimes, though, it does seem like I was 30 just yesterday. Usually it’s an interaction with someone younger when I’m starkly reminded that isn’t the case.
I don’t mind getting older. I’m looking forward to 50 when I can say I don’t care about (fill in the blank) and, really, I won’t care. Something about 50 seems to be an excuse to be nonchalant about life’s matters, a reason to not react as quickly or do as much because who cares?
I often say that you couldn’t pay me to be a young person these days. Why? Well an article, “Millennials’ challenge: Find a job, power growth,” by Atlanta Journal-Constitution economy reporter Mike Kanell this week has all the reasons. Kanell wrote about how a challenging economy crimps choices for many young people.
“Millennials are more likely than their elders to be burdened by student debt, more likely to be unemployed and – especially – less likely to buy a home,” Kanell wrote.
I paused after reading that sentence in the story. I reread it. What? I mean I could have guessed the student debt aspect, but unemployed and not have the American dream? No thanks, I’ll keep pressing toward the 50 mark.
The story said Millennials — generally defined as people born between 1980 and 1999 — this year surpassed Generation X to become the largest share of the American workforce, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of Census Bureau data. Economic experts wonder if they will have the career prospects and spending power to drive growth in the coming decade, especially as Baby Boomers on the other end of the generational scale settle into retirement.
More and more in my business and personal life I hear references to this millennial generation as if it’s the latest Rubik’s Cube everyone is trying to fix, understand or conquer. Millennial seems to have quickly become a buzzword. By the way, if you’re a millennial reading this, the Rubik’s Cube is a 3-D combination puzzle invented in 1974. I never mastered it as a kid and I’m still trying to understand millennials too.
Cox Media Group, which owns the AJC, refers to this generation as the CMG2025 because by that year it’s presumed many of them will be in executive leadership roles. So the company is making strategic investments of time and dollars on ways to recruit, retain and engage them.
Each year, CMG has a diversity and inclusion summit. At this year’s summit, there was huge focus and priority given to millennials. I left the summit fired up with new ideas for engaging my own millennial staff. Throughout the company, leaders are asking how we create a future for them and how to act on opportunities to increase the millennial tenure at CMG.
At the AJC and other Cox newspaper properties, much consideration is also given to how we get this generation to engage with our products. It’s something newspapers are doing across the country – offering competitive digital options, engaging regularly through social media and making sure content is written in a voice that appeals to millennials.
Cox isn’t alone. Other major metro Atlanta companies and government entities are also investing in millennial-specific initiatives. The Atlanta Regional Commission has a Millennial Advisory Board for those ages 18 to 35. Check out the ARC New Voices/Millennial initiative at millennials.atlantaregional.com.
To some extent, millennials have an advantage over Boomers and Generation Xers.
Kanell reported that millennials account for about 80 million of the nation’s roughly 320 million people. By that definition, they have begun to eclipse the 76 million Boomers born between 1946 and 1964.
He wrote that some of what millennials have learned from a tough economy could pay dividends down the line: Pragmatism, entrepreneurialism, the need to hone skills.
The way I see it, all companies need to be investing in this generation, not only because of the demographic shift, but because it’s makes good business sense. Millennials are known for not sticking with a job long, but it’s crucial for employers to challenge and engage them no matter how long they stick around.
A 2014 article for Chief Learning Officer magazine reported that the reason many young people are constantly switching jobs goes beyond impatience with old-fashioned workplaces. “Oftentimes, they find the work is not very challenging, or not very interesting, or not very meaningful,” Tammy Erickson, an author and researcher who studies employee engagement and changing workforce and demographic trends, told clomedia.com. “So they move on to look for something that’s more challenging and meaningful.”
I asked a few millennial employees at the AJC to share their opinion on what Kanell’s article revealed. I also asked them what the workforce can do to help this generation with career prospects and spending power.
Ana Santos, 22, a mobile content producer at the AJC, offers these tips for companies that want to appeal to and support a millennial workforce:
- Be located in accessible places. Millennials don't just drive to work. They want to use public transportation, or even bike to work.
- Give them space to be creative. We like to explore and try different things.
- Good benefits. We like it when our company cares about us.
- Millennials are infamous about being superficial, but maybe we just always want the best things? Giving us room to grow and do our best. Don't put us in a box.
- Flexibility. The world isn't just 9-to-5 anymore, and neither are we. We want to do our best – honestly – but sometimes a strict schedule hurts more than it helps.
Ana said that, after graduation, most of her college friends either moved back to their hometowns to live with their parents or now pay an immense amount of money on rent in a big city for a low-paying entry-level job.
And home ownership? She’s not interested. “I am not interested in buying a home because I love city living and I love change.”
“Buying my first car was a huge decision, let alone a house,” agreed Adam Carlson, a 23-year-old content producer at the AJC.
“Millennials are actually in the same boat as a lot of working Americans, when it comes to wage stagnation, lack of mobility,” Adam said. “Improving any of those things would help our generation as much as any other.”
Both Ana and Adam were born in the early 1990s. Eek, there goes that reminder again. Now where did I put that remote control?
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