The age of the Millennials has dawned. Are we ready?

One may ask what the link between the low female participation and the rate of growth of the millennial generation is in Malta. The answer is that there are a higher proportion of female than male university graduates and as such one can conclude that a good number of potential Millennials are not actively participating and joining this new phenomenon. It is therefore important to find out the characteristics of the cohort and to this end PKF plans to conduct studies via a technical survey.

Millennials are classed as those born between the early-80s to early-2000s. In fact, in some tech and start-up businesses, world famous Millennials such as Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg already hold leadership positions. On a global level, studies predict that Millennials will make up 75 per cent of the West’s labour force by 2025. It is anticipated that in 10 to 15 years’ time, many of the top executive positions will be occupied by Millennials. There is a lot of hype that these see life in more circular, optimistic terms. For them, life is more like a circus with infinite variety and the giant wheel of fortune turning happily. There are multiple opportunities to advance in the future path of a technological savvy world enveloped in latest social media connectivity. If you look at the profile of top executives lining the boards of overseas publicly listed companies, one invariably finds picture of men in their 50s and 60s – a generation widely defined as baby boomers.

They are the antithesis of the Millennials, as these babyboomers manifest diagonally opposite character traits and, as we can see later on in this article, there is a resonant clash in the coming years when Millennials of a much younger age will take over the stewardship of corporates. In the Western world, one categorises baby boomers as the post-war leaders in business who enjoyed idyllic childhoods during the 1950s, and came of age in the 60s, questioning authority and the status quo. Global surveys on Millennials such as those conducted by PWC and Deloitte reveal that they are smart, resourceful, talented, highly educated, team-oriented and well-travelled. The Norman Broadbent 2014 Board Review found that chairmen and non-executive directors tend to be in their 60s. They have grown up with technology and naturally they have always been able to open multiple tabs in an internet browser to conduct research and search for movies and music while simultaneously playing Angry Birds.

Yet the average millennial does not wear the standard “suit and tie“to the office; on the contrary, one comes across a character who has changed from wearing a suit and tie to a more casual style. To be fair, Millennials do respect workplace protocol and corporate structure yet the problem is that they “challenge the status quo” mentality of the older baby boom generation. A good example of what clothes Millennials wear now is in most online gaming companies that have mushroomed in the past 14 years in Malta. Here, one frequently meets top executives wearing casual shirts, flip-flops and bag. Fast growing tech-based online gambling companies in Malta (and abroad) offer staggering salaries and bonuses, and a casual “come as you are” dressdown Friday’s attitude.

This laid-back atmosphere is conducive to building a unique character trait in Millennials. One is not surprised to find they lack the proper etiquette at business dinners and other special occasions. They were not taught to value the hands-on experience of older, more seasoned generations. Equally resolute and target oriented Millennials do not know how and when to accept “no” for an answer.

As stated earlier, one cannot underestimate the uniqueness of this upcoming generation. It is cocooned in modern, “instant gratification” technology of digital media. They have no memory of a world without cell phones, digital cameras, email, text-messaging, instant messaging, personal digital assistants, mp3 players, handheld video game devices, blogs, do-it-yourself internet videos, online virtual worlds, web browsing. All this exposure to cutting edge technology has inculcated a razor sharp mindset which by and large endows this generation with qualities of multitasking. All this is a result of the deluge of internet based state-of-the-art technology in today’s fast-paced, gadgetfilled society.

So far, no scientific studies are available in the public domain on the characteristics displayed by Millennials in Malta but in the absence of such data one can safely conclude that similarities exist to assimilate us with others in the Western world. Reliable sources talk of the Millennials’ generation set to replace baby boomers in the US as they retire from the workforce and are about to take on leadership roles in the board rooms. The phenomenon of Millennials has a lot to offer and their generation is poised to revolutionize the workforce.

HR specialists in US warn us that if businesses do not take time to comprehend this generation’s motivations and strengths, they risk losing out on a major competitive edge. Millennials want more than a nine-to-five job – they want flexible work hours, the option to telecommute and have fun. To conclude, it is amply evident that Millennials will be a powerful generation of workers and that those with the right skills will be in high demand. The million-dollar question is: are Millennials really any different to past generations? Are we ready for the seismic change in values? Only time will tell, as no crystal ball can answer these questions with clarity.