It seems hard to believe that the Millennial generation – those born between 1981 and 2000 – is taking the corporate world by storm and making an impact at every level of a company. While some may still see this as a young generation, those who were born in the early 1990s are graduating from college and looking for work.
This topic was tackled by Rajat Taneja – the executive VP and CTO at Electronic Arts – in a recent LinkedIn blog post. Currently, Taneja is in Vancouver, British Columbia and meeting with college kids. He pointed out that in the U.S. alone there are an estimated 75 million Millennials. That is the same size as the baby boomers and 1.6 times larger than Generation X.
“Every organization should be hiring entry level roles from colleges and universities to create a structure where there is continuous inflow of new Millennial talent,” said Taneja. “The base of the organization should be the largest in size and reflect an overall shape that is more commensurate with an acute angle triangle – very few layers, large spans of management control and high velocity for movement upwards for this growing segment.”
Taneja added that embracing Millennials will change how businesses operate. Communication, organizational geometry, transparency and a more fun-loving office environment will become a higher priority.
What this means for IT departments
One major benefit, or drawback depending on one’s viewpoint, is that the Millennial generation is far more comfortable with technology than those who came before. Growing up along side the internet, mobile devices and computers have not only given Millennials an increased knowledge base but also a rising demand for the latest innovations in the workplace.
The Millennial generation is here to work and they are bringing technology with them. IT Principals need to ensure they have resources available to handle this kind of influx. Solution Providers that have partnered with VAR Staffing can ensure they are offering the top talent to meet the challenges of the next generation.
