Daylight Savings Time is finally here. I equate this to an influx of new, fresh faces joining Net Impact to help out in Conference planning, Marketing, Chapters and our other areas. It’s always so wonderful to have a vibrant and energetic group of people come into our office, filling up our spaces, packing the fridge with unusual faire and engaging us in lunch chat about their amazing extra-curricular activities and experiences.
I am not a Millennial, although adopted by the Marketing Team as a Millennial (thank you)! My generation so often looks at people around the ages of 18-34 with a curious eye – they appear confused about this single largest, most diverse group of the workforce. For example, they think Millennials spend too much time on their tech devices – well yes, almost 50% don’t have a landline, and they have had access to millions of digital impressions providing unfiltered points of view, information and entertainment almost since birth. It’s no different to my father spending all his time reading the newspaper and watching TV!
But it’s not only technology that has caused this group to view the world differently to other generations…they are burdened by student debt as we have never experienced before (over $1 trillion); they are better educated and more discerning – they would rather make less in a job they love, than a job they think is boring. They are also the highest share among any age group in 30 years to have experienced underemployment or unemployment.
And what about that job? The majority want to start a business, and over 80% stating that helping to make a positive difference in the world is more important than professional recognition: they believe that profit should not be the only metric for success. If they are in a company, they want a collaborative work culture, flexible work schedules, and are more than willing to blog about work, and “friend” their co-workers; in fact most ignore social media office policies!
Our super educated young people value family, community, and creativity in their work. And they are looking to make a difference in the world - Net Impact is a perfect place to get started on that mission.
