They’re the hottest commodity on the job market since Rosie the Riveter. They’re sociable, optimistic, talented, well-educated, collaborative, open-minded, influential, and achievement-oriented. They’ve always felt they were sought after, needed, indispensable. They are arriving in the workplace with higher expectations than any generation before them - and they’re so well connected that, if an employer (or for that matter, a politician - as seen in the 2008 US national elections) doesn’t match those expectations, they can tell thousands of their cohorts with a few keystrokes and one click of the mouse. They’re the Millennial Generation.
Born between 1980 and 2000, they’re a generation nearly as large as the Baby Boom, and they’re charged with potential. They’re called the Internet Generation, Echo Boomers, the Boomlet, Nexters, Generation Y, the Nintendo Generation, the Digital Generation, and, in Canada, the Sunshine Generation. But, in response to an abcnews.com survey, several thousand of them sent suggestions about what they want to be called, and “Millennials” was the clear winner.
In this uncertain economy and highly competitive business environment, most companies recognize that the differentiator is their people. Those organizations that emerge as winners in the battle for talent will have their fingers on the pulse of this newest generation. They’ll design specific techniques for recruiting, managing, motivating, and retaining them.
The Millennials are just entering the workforce, and, as they do, employers are scrambling to find out everything they can about them. Are they Gen-Xers on steroids? Or, are they a new breed entirely? How do they choose a career, and why? How will they change the workplace as we know it today? What are they looking for when they post their resumes on monster.com? What is their work ethic? What is unique about them? How do DC logistics and operations managers communicate with and motivate them?
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