Bonnie Hagemann

Generation Y (aka: the Millennials) are quickly taking over the workforce and bringing about a swift change in dynamics. As Baby Boomers and Gen Xers react to and try to understand these organizational culture changes, a lot of emotions are being stirred up -- including excitement, confusion, and more than a little fear. The older generations are trying to adjust, showing some signs of optimism, tempered by mild distaste as they hear Millennials’ employment demands. On the surface, it seems that Millennials don’t want to work hard, yet they require a lot of vacation time, big jobs (no grunt work, please), and high salaries. But when we dig a little deeper, we find something else. We find a new generation of idealists who want to change the world and are willing to do the work required to change it. Both the work and the work environment are going to start evolving rapidly, and the changes and the change makers are working from the bottom up instead of from the top down. This generation is not going to fit into the historic corporate America mold. Gen Y’s impact is going to be so substantial that everyone and everything is going to have to make considerable adaptations in response to their move from the minority to the majority of the workforce.