The first wave of the Millennial Generationâborn between the early 1980s and 2002âis just graduating from college and entering the work force. Employers, meantime, are bracing for some of the biggest management challenges theyâve ever faced: Integrating the most demanding and most protected generation in history into a workplace shaped by the driven baby-boom generation. Like them or not, millennials are Americaâs future work force. They are actually a larger group than the boomersâabout 80 million vs. 76 million.
The millennials are a complex groupâalthough theyâre hard-working achievers, most millennials donât excel at leadership and independent problem solving. They want the freedom and flexibility of a virtual office but they also want rules and responsibilities t be spelled out explicitly. âItâs all about me,â might seem to be the mantra of this demanding bunch of young people, yet they also tend to be very civic-minded and philanthropic.