RMN'S Blog

What Millennials Want

Date: October 28, 2014

Millennials are reaching the workforce in mass numbers. Those born between 1980 and 1995 are completing high school, finishing up college, and even finishing graduate school. Now that they are the majority of the workforce, firms are starting to see that the demands of Millennials are different from those of past generations.

 

For one, Millennials want more flexible hours. Companies and firms have seen that if they give more flexible hours to their employees, they tend to work better and more efficiently. They are also happier overall, and productive in their own personal lives as well. Some Millennials have even requested to work on Sundays as an option to take a day off during the week.

 

The Millennial generation also admires the “team-oriented” culture in the workplace and opportunities to take on interesting work compared to previous generations. They value transparency, especially when it comes to business decisions for one’s career. This generation wants to see more support and easy communication all around within the workplace.

 

Many Millennials have expressed a desire to travel and work overseas more than non-Millennials. This can be advantageous for law firms looking to expand internationally. Young Millennials who are recent graduates are open to working overseas, especially if they have not started a family yet, or are just starting a married lifestyle.

 

Despite the many stereotypes of Millennials, they have grown up to not expect job security. This is the generation that grew up, and started looking for jobs at the beginning of the 2008 Recession. Due to this, they understand the complexity of job hiring and job security compared to previous generations. In addition, they are more hard-working than given credit for; studies have shown they are just as committed to their work as previous generations.

 

On the other hand, not all Millennials think the same. It’s been seen that there is a significant commonality when it comes to the wants and demands of this generation in North America, Europe and East Asia. They tend to want more work/life balances and flexibility the most out of all the other demands. However, cultural norms in other areas of the world have trumped over the demands of Millennials worldwide.

 

In the end, Millennials are trying to change the workplace little by little to help achieve and meet their expectations of what a workplace should be like.