The days of having Regional Manager Michael Scott peer over his minions from a corner office may soon be coming to an end.
According to new research, millennials are reinventing professional life in America. A study from Brookings Institution found that by the year 2025, millennials will make up 75 percent of the entire workforce. But with more 18- to 35-year-olds entering the job market every day, the revolution is already beginning.
Unlike previous generations, most millennial workers aren’t satisfied spending their lives trying to climb a corporate ladder simply to earn more money. Research from Michael C. Fina, a company that specializes in creating incentive programs for businesses, shows that most millennials—86 percent, in fact—never aspire to become CEO of the place where they work.
Instead, 66 percent want to work for themselves one day as a business owner or freelancer. That’s one reason more than half view traditional management techniques as outdated and say they want to see changes to workplace hierarchies.
Surveys of more than 300 millennial employees at Price Waterhouse Cooper found that instead of top-down power structures, millennials tend to value collaboration, working in teams and, ultimately, flexibility.
Part of the reason for the shift could be because for millennials, money isn’t as important as community, personal fulfillment and making a difference. When asked about their top priorities in life, more than 52 percent said being a good parent was number one.
Living close to families and friends, having a happy marriage, helping others and owning a home all ranked higher than having a high-paying career.
Maybe it’s because they’ve seen the toll over-working had on their own families growing up, but this generation clearly wants to engage career and life differently. It’ll be interesting to see what impact that ultimately has.
