Rise of the millennials in the workplace
Millennials are taking workplaces by storm, transforming organisations and how we staff them.
According to McCrindle Research, millennials will make up around 40 per cent of the workforce by 2020. Also known as Generation Y, they were born in the 80s or 90s and immersed in computers and the internet from a young age. As a result, they tend to be early adopters and more confident with new technology than previous generations.
This is often evident in the workplace, where they have introduced new ways of thinking about how companies should operate.
“Generation Y expects to work in communities of mutual interest and passion.”
Companies need to adapt
Traditional business structures are being challenged in particular, said Vineet Nayar, vice chairman and CEO of HCL Technologies, quoted in a recent PwC report.
“Hierarchies have to disappear. Generation Y expects to work in communities of mutual interest and passion – not structured hierarchies. Consequently, people-management strategies will have to change so that they look more like Facebook and less like the pyramid structures we are used to,” said Nayar.
His comments highlight how important it is for organisations to start reflecting upon their existing technology, systems and processes and to evolve to meet the demands of their future workforce.
Hand-in-hand with technology
To keep up with the demands of the digital business economy, proactive firms have implemented unified communications and cloud-based systems that provide clever ways for staff to communicate and collaborate.
Such tools also align well with the expectations of their younger digital-savvy employees. According to PwC, 59 per cent of millennials said it was important to them that their employer utilised state-of-the-art technology. In fact, most said modern tech makes them more effective in their work.
An ever increasing number of young people are entering the workforce.
Role of the recruiter
Many companies in Australia are likely to experience upheavals in the coming years. Baby boomers are retiring and an ever-increasing number of young people are entering the workforce.
Recruitment companies will play a major role in facilitating this demographic change for their clients. They will also experience transformation themselves and should create a millennial-friendly environment in order to remain competitive in the Rec to Rec market.
Agencies can do this by upgrading to advanced software platforms that enable the delivery of effective and seamless solutions – from candidate search and recruitment functions to payments and invoicing.
For more information about our novel FastTrack360 recruitment software, please contact us today.