Keeping Up With Millennials

How companies are trying to attract and retain the largest generation in the workforce?

- Pooja Singh

Take a look around your office. How many millennials do you see? More than half of the global millennial population—those born between 1981 and 1997—lives in Asia, and makes for a big percentage of employees in the region. Over 85 million millennials, also called Gen Y, will be in the workplace by 2020, and in the next five years, they will comprise three-quarters of the global workforce. Small wonder then employers are looking for ways to attract and retain millennials and create spaces that speak to the generations’ desires, while fostering productivity, efficiency, connectivity and community.

LET’S TALK BASICS FIRST

Critics say millennials, with their stubbornness, haughtiness and smartphone-obsession, are going to doom us all. Some say their laziness will kill the economy. Matthew Ashes, associate director (people, performance and culture), at consultancy firm KPMG Australia, doesn’t believe so. “They are as hardworking as any other generation. They are motivated, passionate and caring, and are easily integrated into established teams with multiple generations,” he says, adding, “Millennials are highly innovative and are always looking to enhance and improve.”

A report by CBRE, a real estate company that has 80,000 employees spread across the world, too shatters many of the preconceived notions about millennials. Its “Millennials: Myths and Realities”, which surveyed 7,000 CBRE staff members and 13,000 millennials in 12 countries, found that while much has been made of millennials’ supposed tendency to switch employers regularly, majority—62 per cent—would ideally prefer to change jobs as infrequently as possible.