Corporate America Needs Millennials
By: Melissa Jean
Tags: Business Trends, Side Hustle, Millennials, Corporate Culture

Image via Pixabay.

We grew up on the Internet. We came of age on social media. We worked for free to round out our resumes and spent our spare time excelling at our passions. So why are our opinions discounted in the corporate conference room? As millennials, we are often labelled as the narcissistic new hires that want to get ahead with the minimal amount of work. Our valuation of work-life balance and the pursuit of the side hustle is in direct contrast to our predecessors, which is why they feel we are undeserving of traditional success. It’s time to change that perception.

For starters, we need to move past this concept of millennials as “kids these days.” The millennial generation currently spans professionals ages 23 to 38; they’re either in their final year of college or already well along their career path. It may be a terrifying thought, but millennials are already among you in the office, likely in positions you wouldn’t expect.

As for the theory that millennials don’t work as hard as previous generations, that is entirely false. The catch is that we don’t see the point in giving our all to companies that underpay and under utilize us. We were the first generation that was told a college degree is a necessity and internships will help you get the typical 1–3 years’ experience required for entry-level positions. Then we graduated with hundreds of hours of schooling, volunteering, and unpaid work only to find that the job market wasn’t as excited to have us as we were lead to believe. Instead, we hear that we are lazy and more interested in perks than healthcare and a reasonable salary.

If a millennial does push for a seat at the table, we are often hushed as being too “green” in the industry or too boisterous of our own expertise. The first issue may be true in some cases, but good managers will use it as a teaching moment to impart wisdom. As for the second, millennials aren’t know-it-alls, we just have to yell louder to get our thoughts across in a room filled with unbelievers.

The downplaying of millennials in corporate structures is at the risk of the organization itself. According to Entrepreneur magazine, some of the top current business trends are data privacy, subscriptions, and social responsibility. Millennials are spearheading these areas on the consumer side, but seem to struggle getting their point across in the boardroom.

For example, this is the generation that cried “misconduct” and severed ties when Facebook, Equifax, and other major companies had data breaches. We made it clear that our personal information is not available on the open market, and trust needs to be a key value for corporate leaders. Wouldn’t it therefore be beneficial to have a member of that sample involved in road-mapping products that rely on personal data?

Subscriptions are another millennial-driven trend as younger members of the generation avoid shopping in-stores and prefer their options be sent directly to their homes. Social media, the primary form of conversation among millennials, is a strong contributor to the success of subscription boxes and services as word of mouth is one of the key factors to overall growth. It is undoubtedly easier to teach a digital native how to manage your content plan than instruct an industry lifer in the latest platform.

Technology is another sector that can benefit from millennial insight into subscriptions. Software as a Service (SaaS) is taking over enterprise-scale forecasts due to its prevalence in the exploding cloud industry. Businesses that want to stay ahead of the curve would do well to include younger professionals in their brainstorm sessions, especially since millennials are poised to become managers and executives that will control major purchasing decisions.

Finally, the social responsibility craze is a direct result of millennial consumer research. According to eMarketer, 74% of millennials feel companies should have a public opinion on social issues. If you really want to know what areas are worth your attention when attracting young buyers, hire a few of them. Otherwise you’re trying to sell to a generation without listening to their professional representatives.

If Corporate America continues to overlook millennial talent, it will lose out. There are more options than ever to making a living, especially with the rise of the side hustle culture. We are so disenchanted by the standard desk job and so disappointed in what all our hard work amounted to that we turn our greatest efforts toward our own endeavors.

Over half of all millennials have a side hustle, a way they monetize their passion beyond their day job. Most of these gigs only amount to a few hundred dollars extra each month, but it tends to be disposable income on top of living expenses. Then there are the success stories, the ones that we gravitate toward because they are the millennial dream. For the particularly motivated, exceptionally imaginative, and most innovative among us, the side hustle can become the primary business.

There are social media enthusiasts that achieved influencer-level status by creating a YouTube video each week. Travel photographers that started out editing some vacation photos now frequent five-star resorts in return for a favorable review. Former marketers, IT specialists, and salespeople that came up with a niche idea and turned it into a best-selling product.

Millennials have the expertise to thrive in the modern business world, the drive to make our hard work worth it, and the creativity to succeed in what we love. In short, everything your business requires to lead their industry. Yet because of the stigma you have attached to an entire generation, we are looking to other avenues for income and accomplishment.

So sorry Corporate America, you need us more than we need you.