Millennial Takeover: Like It or Not

The workforce is undergoing a massive corporate reconstruction. Americans are simultaneously experiencing a mass exodus of Baby Boomers and an influx of Millennials. Seventy-five million Baby Boomers are on the verge of retirement and America is experiencing the largest entrance of recent grads into the workforce. This massive flip-flop is changing the corporate landscape as we know it. The Next Wave of Leaders Recent college graduates are flooding the job market. This year alone, 36% of the workforce in the United States will be made up of Millennials. And, by 2022, that number will rise to 46%[1]. Conclusion: Millennials are here to stay. So the question remains, if recent grads are bombarding the workplace, where are they all settling? The answer may shock you: upper managerial roles. How many times have you run into a hiring manager half your age? Well, get used to it. A vast 63% of executives in the United States will now be eligible to retire in the next five years. Whether or not you feel comfortable with this young management trend, recent grads are now being promoted to leadership roles five to 10 years earlier than Baby Boomers[2]. Companies must anticipate and plan for this dramatic culture change within organizations around the globe. Hiring and understanding recent grads is necessary for the vitality of every business. Training and career development programs must be implemented to help transition executive teams and company structures. This investment (or lack there of) in Millennial talent will affect the health of companies over the next decade. Career development today directly translates into executive experience tomorrow. The New Entrepreneurs Millennials nationwide have grown up surrounded by inventors and innovators. Icons like Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey have painted a picture that one bright idea can lead to unprecedented success. Although not every Millennial wants to start his or her own business, Millennials are desperate for this same level of early accomplishment. As teenagers, many recent grads witnessed job losses of parents or family friends at the peak of the recession. Recent grads have now been raised to be especially aggressive and tenacious when job searching. Social media makes it even easier to pursue and exploit any and all connections or potential opportunities. It is a tight race up the corporate ladder, and Millennials are ready to climb high. Make a Five-Year Plan Once, a long-term plan consisted of an outline of the next 10 years. Today, a long-term plan may be no longer than three years. With this giant explosion of Millennials, it is time to revert to the basics. Technology may be changing rapidly, but often the people behind the technology are not. Executives and HR professionals need to look further down the road and anticipate career paths of young employees. Every new hire should offer potential to a department or an organization. This potential should extend much longer than an initial few months and into the company’s future. Hiring managers need to treat every entry-level employee as a prospective manager and map out the next five years of a company’s business plan to anticipate career changes. Take, for example, the retiring of a certain executive. Choosing a replacement to shadow and prepare for a promotion encourages hiring from within and career development. Furthermore, it challenges Millennials and incentivizes these individuals with prospective advancement. As we saw a few weeks ago, Millennials like their perks. Millennials Already Making Their Mark Millennials have already begun bringing their ideas to life. Make sure you are recruiting this selective talent pool and encouraging their out-of-the-box ideas. Here is a list of Millennials that have especially impressed our team:

• Aaron Levie (28) is both the Co-Founder & CEO of Box, an enterprise cloud company, which has given him an estimated net worth of $100 million.
• Jared Hecht (26) was both the Co-Founder & CEO of GroupMe, which he sold to Skype in 2011. He now is the Co-Founder & CEO of Fundera, an online platform that matches small business owners to lenders.
• David Karp (28) is the Founder & CEO of Tumblr, a social media platform that now holds an estimated value of $800 million. Karp’s net worth is estimated to exceed $200 million.
• Julianne Goldmark (19) and Emily Matson (19) began their hair accessory business, Emi-Jay, back in 2009 when they were only 14 years old. They now are Co-Founders and CEOs of a multi-million dollar company while also attending college.
• Patrick (25) and John (23) Collison co-founded Stripe to simplify online transactions and payments. Today, the company processes billions of dollar a year for companies located across the global.

[1] Survey data is based on data collected by the University of North Carolina, Kenan-Flagler Business School and the YEC in 2012. [2] Survey data is based on a data collected by PricewaterhouseCoopers of over 300 companies in 2013.