Delivering IT for the Millennial and Gen Z workforce

Millennials are a demographic that the media mostly leaves alone…

Ok, we're not fooling you. A short trip to google news and a quick search of "Millennials" or "generation z" will throw up a consortium of differing results ranging from the absurd:

Millennials are most likely to have a deadly asthma attack because 'unaffordable housing and financial uncertainty stops them prioritising their health' ¹

To the even more absurd:

Millennials aren't eating cereal because it's too much work ²

If the media portrait of a lazy, social media addicted, reckless generation of snowflakes is to be believed then the hopes for the business, nation and research leaders of the future look grim. So, are we doomed as a species or will Millennials be remembered as the generation that created a more connected, socially conscious, productive world that's future-proofed for generations to follow...

Millennials are shaping the 4th industrial revolution. Here's how:

Millennials have driven new marketing channels - Since the launch of Instagram in 2010 and Snapchat in 2011, companies across the world have taken advantage of new marketing channels opened up by the social media platforms³, leading to a more recent 2018 launch of Instagram's shop feature⁴ as Instagram users are 70% more likely to shop via their mobiles than any other users⁸. And, do you know who the 83% of marketers who actively market on social media are⁷? Probably not Baby Boomers.
Millennials work smartly - 92% of Millennials own smartphones compared to the 85% of Gen Xers and 67% of Baby Boomers³. With the abundance of cloud file management platforms, word processors and utilities available to smartphone and tablet users, the next generations can effectively work from any device - increasing your company's productivity and growth in the process, if you can keep them away from their Snapchat filters, that is.
Everyone is connected - 4G networks were officially launched in the UK in 2013⁵ offering high-speed connectivity to everyone almost everywhere - we appreciate that it can be difficult getting signal on the tube, not that it really matters anymore with the introduction of WiFi at all tube stations. With this connectivity comes great productivity; need to finish that sales pitch on the train to your meeting? Not a problem, being confined to the office is a thing of the past.
Millennials are really easy to get hold of - Google Drive, email clients and messenger apps are just a few of the easily downloadable applications that sit on Millennials' phones, making them easy to contact and allowing them to be productive from anywhere, as they are always within arm's length of their phones.
Everything is a little more streamlined - Combining connectivity with the CRM platforms, project management tools and AI services that are ever emerging, productivity and relations of both internal and external customers are ever improving and collaboration is becoming more seamless.

At the end of the day

It's likely that every generation has seen similar distrust from the previous generations, and it's clear that some don't like to embrace cultural or technological change - The Beatles faced similar criticisms for the "Beatlemania" of the early 60s⁶.

What's clear, though, is that IT transformational change will be coming to companies across the UK in the coming years, whether it's up to the older generations to embrace it or for the younger generations to enforce it.

If you're wondering whether your IT career has been revolutionary, or just a little drab, try out our quiz "Fired, hired or happily retired" and discover if you should start updating your cv a little earlier than you expected.