It is a common belief that employing and retaining younger workers will take some corporate creativity. Yes, young professionals want telecommuting options and the freedom to tap social media networks when they want, for personal and for business reasons. It is believed that flexibility is more important to them than salary. This according to a survey done by Cisco, where many young workers will pass up a job with a company that restricts or prohibits use of social media sites during work hours.
But in the current economy with under employment and unemployment has at least some young professionals looking to give in at least temporarily on some issues. I remember reading before the current employment crisis of the late the Gen X and the Gen Y population dictating terms to the Boomers bosses; such as the absolute need to bring their pet with them to work. You don’t hear any of that nonsense now. Most prefer to just get out from under their parents reign of terror and move back into something they can call their own. Remember a number of young professionals needed to move back home after losing their job.
Now with the Boomers who have lost their jobs, they took whatever position was available if they could find anything. They feel and probably rightly so, that they have been discriminated against in favor of younger workers in the past few years. I believe that most of the jobs and fields that were lost are gone for good. The workplace is morphing and employees need be flexible to change with the jobs and the times.
We can look forward to a growing number of companies that plan to accommodate these workers, as bosses recognize that luring talent outweighs lost productivity from system abusers. But employers and employees will need better digital security and rules for telecommuting. Remote access to corporate files on laptops and cell phones puts data at greater risk of being stolen or infected by computer viruses. Good communication remains vital.
Communications will also continue to be an issue, even with my dealings with my kids they prefer to text to actually making a call, knowing that I will hear the phone ring and not necessarily hear the ting of a text. Remember Boomers and early Gen X like and know the power of a face to face conversation. Business is about succeeding and thriving and needs everyone to be on the same page, they could be on different paragraphs but need to be on the same page.