Millennials: Solving the Problems of the Future

Why are millennials the least engaged population in the workforce? Why are they often called lazy, narcissistic, and entitled? Because we are asking them to do the jobs of their parents and grandparents 

With each passing year, millennials are taking over more and more of the workforce and employee engagement, productivity, and satisfaction get lower and lower. While it is easy to point the finger at millennials as a lazy, entitled group that grew up in an era of prosperity, that doesn’t really get to the root of the problem. Why are Millennials the way they are?

Millennials are the first generation where survival is not a pressing issue

In America, the standard of living has increased tremendously over the last few decades to where even the lowest socioeconomic classes have access to smartphones, televisions, computers, and the internet.

Millennials are also the most educated. They have been sent to college more than any previous generation.

Most likely, these benefits were provided to them through the hard work and guidance of their parents.

But the jobs and circumstances of our parents’ generation are gone. We can’t work a factory job getting paid $20/hr with benefits for 30 years then retire with a pension.

With a global economy comes global competition. America is no longer the most suited for the jobs of our parents and companies know this. They are outsourcing the jobs our parents used to do to machines or people in other countries where the labor forces allow companies to stay profitable and competitive.

Millennials were told go to college, when you graduate, you will have a high paying job. What Millennials have found is that they will go to college, accumulate debt, and not find a job that meets their education level. Most likely, they will have to take a job they could have gotten without a college degree.

So why are Millennials less engaged, productive, and satisfied? Because we have done everything people told us to do and it turned out to be wrong (well kind of, our parents were right to tell us to go to college, but they couldn't foresee what would happen after).

Now we are deciding to figure things out on our own. We see a new way. A way that has been opened up for us by our parents’ and granparents’ generations. We see the opportunity to solve the problems of the future. Someone is already solving today’s problems and they are doing a good job of it. They are also doing it cheaply through machines or an international workforce.

The one thing a machine or international workforce can’t do? Solve the problems of the future.

That is what is engaging, motivating, and satisfying to a millennial. That is the direction companies in America need to go if they want to survive into the next generation. That is what Google is doing. That is what Facebook is doing. That is by and large what Silicon Valley is trying to do.

They realize that if you have a millennial workforce, you need to give them millennial tasks and figure out how to outsource the rest. Building a widget isn’t a millennial task. A job with full benefits isn’t a millennial engagement driver. These are new problems that need new solutions.

Just because you have a hammer doesn’t mean everything is a nail. This transition is a hard one. Especially because many people in middle and upper management are not millennials. They are still a part of an old regime. Often, they have expectations of what their workforce should do based on what they did to get where they are.

As a millennial, I am grateful and appreciative of everything my parents’ and grandparents’ generations have done to bring us to where we are now, but we are on a different path and despite the derogatory nature with which we are described, we will change the world to an extent greater than any previous generation. That is a fact that was true of my grandparents’ generation as well as my parents’.

The problem with solving the problems of the future is that we don't know them until we see them. Often, we have to go out on a limb while everyone is telling us to play it safe. Each generation has had their leaders and entrepreneurs. People who thought outside the box. These are the people who have made America great.

There are definitely issues with the Millennial generation. We have instant access to anything and everything. Can we be entitled? Absolutely. Is that how we want to be remembered? Absolutely not. We need mentors who know about the past, have helped shape the present, and have a vision for the future to shape us. We need help building a new system that will fit for future generations so we can move out of survival mode into an age of thriving.

So why not work with us and mentor us and help us grow and be a part of the influence on a generation that will shape the world?

Andrew is the CEO of Play Present and a Behavioral Researcher in the Stanford Behavior Design Lab. His focus is on creating programs to help people change behaviors and patterns so they can move from surviving to thriving. Through his firm Play Present, he creates programs and products that help people unlock their true potential and reach levels they didn't believe possible. You can find more at www.playpresent.com.