By Natalie Burg
Don't think you can stand one more article about how millennials are so special and will change everything about the workplace? You don't have to. After years of the terrifying battle cry, "The millennials are coming! The millennials are coming!" there's news: Millennials aren't that different after all.
Oh sure, they're digital natives, and they have some different priorities and outlooks on life. But as the much-examined generation moves into adulthood, it's becoming clear that they have a lot in common with previous generations.
What's all the hullabaloo been about then? As director of the Center for Human Resources at the Wharton School Peter Cappelli told the New York Times, this is simply the way older generations have viewed younger generations since, well, forever.
“You can find these complaints in ancient Greek literature, in the Bible,” Cappelli says.
And the attitudes of young adults, he adds, haven't actually changed since the baby boomers were that age. “There’s no evidence millennials are different. They’re just younger.”
Want proof? Consider the following.
Millennials want flexibility — but so does everyone else
Think workplaces are becoming more flexible to meet the demands of millennials? They do, after all, love flexibility.
"I prefer a job where I can come in at 6 a.m. and leave at 2:30 to 3 p.m. if I want to, or one where I can work from home on occasion to maintain my sanity," says Alex Beaton, a millennial marketing professional in Houston, TX. "Living and working in a place 1,200 miles from my hometown, I appreciate the flexibility over the holidays to be able to go home for two weeks without taking all that time off."
But here's the thing about wanting more flexibility in the workplace: Everyone else wants it, too. In fact, according to a Ernst & Young study, gen X-ers were the most likely to walk away from a job that didn't offer enough flexibility, rating it the most important non-cash perk of a job.
Millennials prefer face time
While the standard millennial portrait shows a young person staring down at a mobile device, these workers actually prefer face-to-face communications that matter. Although it's true that millennials are proficient in texting, emailing and instant messaging, a 2013 American Express/Millennial Branding study found that 62 percent of them prefer to communicate with their managers in person.
Salary trumps all
We're told that millennials aren't motivated by the same calculus of salary and benefits that has been keeping workers happy for generations, but the
"Salary is by far the most important thing, with healthcare being a close second," Beaton says. "With the amount of student loans and credit card debt I accumulated in college, I'm looking for a higher salary job to pay those off as soon as possible."
They're saving for a house, too
One of the most pervasive stereotypes of the millennial is the young adult living in his or her parents' basement, moving out only to enter a lifetime of renting an apartment downtown. But it turns out that millennials have their eyes on a familiar salary prize: home ownership. While urban living is on the rise among residents of all ages, a 2014 Demand Institute survey found that 75 percent of millennials describe homeownership as “an important long-term goal." Only 38 percent are sure they want that home to be in a city.
Though she may not be ready for homeownership today, Beaton calls it "a sensible decision" she'll likely start thinking about in five to six years.
For all the hand-wringing the world has done over how to prepare the workplace for millennials, it seems there's just not that much to worry about. And perhaps baby boomers — the generation most often compared to millennials — shouldn't be so surprised. They raised this younger generation, after all.
That's not to say the workplace isn't evolving. New technology and flexibility expectations are indeed creating a new way of working. But rather than assume everything is changing because of millennials, employers should view their evolving workplaces as preparations for the future in general and the new way all employees want and expect to work today.
A former downtown development professional, Natalie Burg is a freelancer who writes about growth, entrepreneurialism and innovation.
Additional must reads:
1. Why Young Adults 'Hunger' For The Hunger Games And Other Post-Apocalyptic Dystopian Fiction
2. Millennial Perks: The Career Benefits Of A Cursed Generation
