How millennials are revamping the workforce

There are plenty of people out there who complain about millennials as being a lazy and entitled generation. While there are those who fit that criteria perfectly, it hardly accurately describes the entire millennial generation. In fact, there are several ways that millennials are revamping the workforce and rewriting the rules that were put in place since before the time the generation complaining about millennials put it there.


As the world is becoming more and more digitized and therefore increasingly remote and non-stop, the rules of the office that applied in the 80s or even in the early 2000s, are rapidly shifting to accommodate new industries and the overhauling on existing ones.

Some of the biggest differences between the millennial generation and the ones that came before are factors such as the fact that millennials tend to change jobs every two years or so, which is a great deal faster than the Baby Boomer generation. Employers are seeing the cost it puts on the company when employees leave, so they are implementing company-wide changes that entice millennials to stay at the company. These changes are actively changing the workforce.


Here are some of the ways millennials are revamping the workforce:

  1. Millennials are the principal workforce in the world.

What that means is that there are more than 80 million generation Y (millennials) in the United States alone. They surpass the Baby Boomer, or generation X, by 4 million people. At this point in time, 36% of workers in the United States are millennials. Flash forward to 2025, three-quarters of the workforce will be made up by millennials.

  1. Rather than have managers, millennials have mentors.

In addition to transparency and communication in the office, it is important for millennials to be placed in a place where they can grow – they are not interested in staying in a static position with no upwards mobility. Work for generation Y is also about socializing. Connecting and networking is a key aspect of any job. The very structure of an organization has taken a shift in its build, as millennials do not thrive under a hovering manager. Companies are taking the pyramid structure of their company’s hierarchy and making it into a much flatter configuration.


  1. Millennials are more value-oriented than money hungry.

This one is probably the lesser known to other generations. Millennials are more interested in making sure the company they work for is an ethical one, than one that brings in the most money. In addition to ethics, millennials care about companies’ environmental policies and where they stand on social issues. They do not want to work in a place that has vastly different values than them.

  1. Millennials work far beyond the standard 9:00-5:00.

Just as we mentioned earlier, that the world is far more digitized and therefore remote and follows no specific clock, neither do millennials. Much of the digital industry works remotely, meaning that the classic work hours of 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM doesn’t apply. Many work on project based daily schedules. Even those who work in offices, which is the vast majority of millennials, find it very important to have the flexibility to work from home when needed so as to not cut their work schedule if they need to stay at home for some reason, in addition to answering work emails and inquires well past the time they went home.