Millennials want the same thing as older workers

The stereotypical Millennial is seen as someone who wants the freedom to choose when and how they work while getting paid exorbitant amounts of money. But the truth is Millennials have the same expectations of work as the previous generation.

According to research conducted by the IBM Institute for Business Value, they place the roughly same value on making an impact on their organisation as Generation X and Baby Boomers (25%, 21% and 23% respectively). They also have similar ideas on helping to solve social or environmental challenges and working with a diverse group of people.

Older generations commonly think Millennials want constant praise, when in fact the research shows they desire an ethical and fair boss above recognition of their accomplishments (35% compared to 29%).

Millennials are also more happy than Generation X to make a decision without first consulting colleagues – 56% feel the need to get others’ opinions, compared to 64% of Gen Xers.

When it comes to training, Millennials put aside their love for technology in favour of conferences, classroom learning and working alongside more experienced colleagues (39%, 37% and 36%).

And if a role doesn’t fulfil their needs, Millennials are actually less likely to jump ship for another company than Generation X, contrary to popular belief that they’re job-hoppers.

Millennials are those who were born between 1980 and 1993. They’ve grown up surrounded by technology, which makes older people believe they’re tech-dependent and possibly spoiled.

View the infographic at ibm.co/1Q3ImGy