Millennials in the workplace

Millennials in the workplace

Read a report on millennials in the workplace to practise and improve your reading skills.

Do the preparation task first. Then read the text and do the exercises.

Preparation

Reading text

Millennials in the workplace

Background

Millennials (those born between the early 1980s and the early 1990s) make up a huge part of our workforce but they seem to lack loyalty to the companies and the leaders they work for. Multinational companies are noticing larger turnover rates of millennials as employee retention rates fall. This report looks at the findings of two large-scale surveys on the mindset of the millennial generation and explores how organisations can strive to address these needs, increase employee engagement and encourage retention.  

Research

In a global survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), more than 40,000 millennial (born between 1983 and 1993) and non-millennial responses were collected on the topics of workplace culture, communication and working styles, pay structure, career development, work–life balance, etc.

In a separate global survey conducted by Deloitte, more than 10,000 millennials participated in a study about their perceptions of the threats and opportunities in the complex world of work.

Key findings

  • Millennials are as committed to their work as their more senior colleagues.
  • Millennials value interesting work and a good work–life balance. They do not believe that excessive work demands are worth sacrifices in their personal lives.
  • Millennials want flexibility in their working hours and are willing to give up pay increases and promotions for a flexible working schedule. They believe that success should be measured by productivity and not by the number of hours they are seen in an office.
  • Millennials want to feel supported and appreciated by their company and their superiors.
  • Millennials want more opportunities to develop their skills. These include technological skills, teamwork and interpersonal skills.
  • Millennials believe that businesses and business leaders should contribute to the improvement of society and they are more likely to be loyal to a company with strong ethics.

Recommendations

Organisations and managers wanting to retain millennials should consider:

  • monitoring their workload and satisfaction levels with their work–life balance
  • creating a flexible work culture where employees have more control over their working hours and their work location
  • providing meaningful work and interesting opportunities
  • offering help and support in continuing professional development
  • changing the organisation's goals from being mainly about profit-making to motives that address social concerns and solve wider societal problems.

Discussion

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Submitted by betelf on Tue, 24/10/2023 - 15:05

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I'm also a millennial, so I definitely agree with them. I value flexible work hours, an ethical job, and work-life balance for my happiness at work.

Submitted by jmajo on Tue, 29/08/2023 - 16:01

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In my case the most important thing it’s the enviroment of work, it should be inclusive and open to give the employees the chance to do homework and not only depend on a fisical office to do their work, that allows employees to balance in a better way their work ours with their personal life. The companies which aim to increase retencion rates should give continuous instruction courses to develop technological skills of their
employees and give them the opportunities to apply their ideas and knowledge on their tasks. Also the companies should consider not only pay for the worked hours but they need to evaluate the productivity of each empleyee and establish different payments rates according to the profits generated for each of them.

Thanks for the lesson.
Great site!

Submitted by Miss zahra on Sat, 22/04/2023 - 15:50

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actually many factors are cause my job satisfaction. work hours , payment, work environment, colleges, gratification and innovation are effective to my pleasure at work.

Submitted by teacheralice on Thu, 12/01/2023 - 14:56

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i HAVE USED THIS LESSON WITH MY STUDENT AND THIS WAS HIS ANSWER TO THE DISCUSSION:

I appreciate having a good and friendly environment with my colleagues.I like having flexibility of time and place of work.It's important to me to have the goals very clearly determined.

Submitted by chuyghe on Wed, 11/01/2023 - 10:00

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I was born in 1989 and I can recognize value that I share reported by the surveys.
For me, a good work-life balance is important. It is also important to be recognized for the work you are doing.

Submitted by Marquise on Mon, 31/01/2022 - 01:08

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In my point of view, millennials in the workplace are more serious, concentrated, 'cause they know that at the end of it, there will be an amount of money, work more and more for the same salary, and I find that they end up being dependent on this work. Insofar as they educate their children in this same perspective. Although the arrival of technology and network facilitating the access of many subjects have become a working tool, some millennials understand the system posed and begin to invest in several areas themselves.

Submitted by Janela Alania on Sat, 29/01/2022 - 15:18

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Work is so important that it is the basic and fundamental condition of human life, it is the source of the goods and services that satisfy our needs. In addition, the Work produces artistic and scientific works. It is the Work that has allowed the creation of entire civilizations.

I am not a Millennial but I am committed to the job I have, I also value interesting work and a good work-life balance, I would also like to feel supported and appreciated by my employers, I would like to have more opportunities to demonstrate my skills and I believe that it is extremely important that companies contribute to the improvement of society.

The most important thing for me would be to find myself in a pleasant work environment, as well as having a loyal and collaborative support group, as well as good communication between each of the workers. On the other hand, I would love to find myself in a job that I like and above all where I can demonstrate my skills. Finally, I would love to be able to work in a more dynamic way, while encouraging and motivating each one of the workers.

Submitted by 7896321 on Sat, 29/01/2022 - 14:56

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The most important thing at work is the work environment, since
it is very important to maintain a harmonious and calm
environment to be able to start the day and work, for this reason
it is important to have a lot of camaraderie in a company to be
able to work as a team quite an efficient way. Also, one of the
important things that would make me happy is being able to
choose my work schedules, to make them more flexible, since
with just a few hours I can deliver incredible jobs and I don't need
to work all day to achieve this. It is also important that we are up
to date with all the technology, it is very important since today
everything is digitized and all forms of communication are
through social networks and it is also a way to socialize more
with your co-workers, also through the networks you can learn a
little more about his tastes and the things he likes to do outside
of work. From my point of view, I think that everything I mention
adds up to create my happy work environment.

Submitted by Janela Alania on Sat, 29/01/2022 - 14:39

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The most important thing for me would be to find myself in a pleasant work environment, as well as having a loyal and collaborative support group, as well as good communication between each of the workers. On the other hand, I would love to find myself in a job that I like and above all where I can demonstrate my skills. Finally, I would love to be able to work in a more dynamic way, while encouraging and motivating each one of the workers.

Submitted by eli_SA on Sat, 29/01/2022 - 14:38

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Today the workplace has become competitive, but despite so much competition, workers are training and gaining more experience, acquiring more knowledge, the most important thing in a company is teamwork, good organization, that everyone is a leader above all that there is a labor respect among all, finally the most important thing that I highlight from the reading is that our achievements are recognized, flexible hours and that they give you opportunities to develop your skills as an example; technology, teamwork and personal skills, in order to contribute to society with very good ethics.