Neale GodfreyContributor
PERSONAL FINANCE 1/18/2015 @ 7:54AM 4,177 views
4 Tips To Prepare Your Millennials For The New Pajama Workplace
Comment Now
The Intuit 2020 Report, these guns for hire will comprise 40 percent of the 2020 U.S. workforce, or about 60 million people (a number that was just 42.6 million in 2006). That’s a staggering number of workers, who will not be intimately involved with the corporate mother ship.
I’m concerned about this new “connected” workforce actually being “unconnected.” Does it bode well for the future creativity and sensitivity of the companies we want to foster in our country? I believe that face-to-face idea sharing and comradery is important for creative thinking. The office environment also allows for the tactical implementation of ideas to be carried out more efficiently, especially if you are eyeball-to-eyeball with the team that is accountable to each other.
Don’t get me wrong. I love technology and our ability to digitally connect. I grew up in the world of “Wite-Out®.” (Millennials think that is a term to worry about only while skiing or driving!) The new world of technology allows for instantaneous communication – globally; however, it doesn’t replace the three “Cs” or Collaboration, Comradery and Commitment.
If you have no job security and you are basically disposable, why would you feel loyal? Millennials get a bad reputation for feeling that way and for being fickle, demanding a lot and jumping ship often. Ty Kiisel, in his 2012 Forbes article, “Gimme, Gimme, Gimme – Millennials in the Workplace”, captured this sentiment really well.
The other interesting issue in today’s world is one of cyber security. Companies grapple with giving part-timers the keys to the castle. Full-time employees are better known to the company and in most cases they will be given access to data that would be harder to give to a temporary worker.
Your Millennial offspring may be more comfortable with this new reality because they may have graduated when the recession hit and working from home as a freelancer for a distant corporation may be more meaningful than filling cups of coffee at Starbucks SBUX +1.29%. Underemployment is a disease afflicting many Millennials. Freelancing is not all bad; it allows a work-life balance, which can be a real motivator for this generation. Salary and work-work-work are not the drivers that they were for Baby Boomers. This new phenomena of flex-hours allows for the real motivator of “flex-life”.
This is a perfect opportunity for you Boomers, to help your Millennial children navigate the turbulent job waters. You have a better perspective and can help your kids see the landscape more clearly, especially when it comes to earning a comfortable living. And, any financial advice you might dispense in the future starts with the earning part, so make sure you’re part of the conversation from the beginning with these four tips:
Tip #1: Prepare for the Pajama-Game
If your Millennial is working from home, they need to have a quiet environment. They may actually need a printer, filing cabinet, desk, and some of those other “old fashioned” office items. Help them with the discipline of working remotely. Too much freedom allows the day to disappear and encourages the day to turn into night.
Tip #2: Get the “Not-So-Sexy” Tech
This seems obvious, but any company is going to expect that the freelancer never has trouble connecting via the most modern equipment. They may not be supplying this, by the way. This is likely to be an upfront cost that your Millennial will have to bare. Mom and Dad, this may be a cost that you can front for your child. Make this a loan with a real one-year repayment schedule.
Tip #3: Continue a Constant Job Search
There is no job security, so even when your child has what looks like a great job, they have to keep their eyes peeled for the next gig. They may even have to layer gigs, so they are not left without work. There are a zillion helpful sites, including; Elance.com, ZipRecruiter.com, TheLadders.com and flexjobs.com. They need to remember to get letters of recommendation from their current employers while they are employed or winding down an assignment. There is no fear of “being found out” when the job is temporary.
Tip #4: Save-Save-Save
I can’t stress this enough. Your Millennial is probably sick of hearing you say, “Live below your means.” Say it again. They should have at least six months of living expenses put aside. They do not know when they will hit a dry spell, which is a fear with freelancing. They are going to have to pay for their health insurance and they had better be loading up their Roth IRA to the max.
Now it’s time for you to get your freelancer that comfy pair of slippers to round-off their new pajama work uniform!
PERSONAL FINANCE 1/18/2015 @ 7:54AM 4,177 views
4 Tips To Prepare Your Millennials For The New Pajama Workplace
Comment Now
The Intuit 2020 Report, these guns for hire will comprise 40 percent of the 2020 U.S. workforce, or about 60 million people (a number that was just 42.6 million in 2006). That’s a staggering number of workers, who will not be intimately involved with the corporate mother ship.
I’m concerned about this new “connected” workforce actually being “unconnected.” Does it bode well for the future creativity and sensitivity of the companies we want to foster in our country? I believe that face-to-face idea sharing and comradery is important for creative thinking. The office environment also allows for the tactical implementation of ideas to be carried out more efficiently, especially if you are eyeball-to-eyeball with the team that is accountable to each other.
Don’t get me wrong. I love technology and our ability to digitally connect. I grew up in the world of “Wite-Out®.” (Millennials think that is a term to worry about only while skiing or driving!) The new world of technology allows for instantaneous communication – globally; however, it doesn’t replace the three “Cs” or Collaboration, Comradery and Commitment.
If you have no job security and you are basically disposable, why would you feel loyal? Millennials get a bad reputation for feeling that way and for being fickle, demanding a lot and jumping ship often. Ty Kiisel, in his 2012 Forbes article, “Gimme, Gimme, Gimme – Millennials in the Workplace”, captured this sentiment really well.
The other interesting issue in today’s world is one of cyber security. Companies grapple with giving part-timers the keys to the castle. Full-time employees are better known to the company and in most cases they will be given access to data that would be harder to give to a temporary worker.
Your Millennial offspring may be more comfortable with this new reality because they may have graduated when the recession hit and working from home as a freelancer for a distant corporation may be more meaningful than filling cups of coffee at Starbucks SBUX +1.29%. Underemployment is a disease afflicting many Millennials. Freelancing is not all bad; it allows a work-life balance, which can be a real motivator for this generation. Salary and work-work-work are not the drivers that they were for Baby Boomers. This new phenomena of flex-hours allows for the real motivator of “flex-life”.
This is a perfect opportunity for you Boomers, to help your Millennial children navigate the turbulent job waters. You have a better perspective and can help your kids see the landscape more clearly, especially when it comes to earning a comfortable living. And, any financial advice you might dispense in the future starts with the earning part, so make sure you’re part of the conversation from the beginning with these four tips:
Tip #1: Prepare for the Pajama-Game
If your Millennial is working from home, they need to have a quiet environment. They may actually need a printer, filing cabinet, desk, and some of those other “old fashioned” office items. Help them with the discipline of working remotely. Too much freedom allows the day to disappear and encourages the day to turn into night.
Tip #2: Get the “Not-So-Sexy” Tech
This seems obvious, but any company is going to expect that the freelancer never has trouble connecting via the most modern equipment. They may not be supplying this, by the way. This is likely to be an upfront cost that your Millennial will have to bare. Mom and Dad, this may be a cost that you can front for your child. Make this a loan with a real one-year repayment schedule.
Tip #3: Continue a Constant Job Search
There is no job security, so even when your child has what looks like a great job, they have to keep their eyes peeled for the next gig. They may even have to layer gigs, so they are not left without work. There are a zillion helpful sites, including; Elance.com, ZipRecruiter.com, TheLadders.com and flexjobs.com. They need to remember to get letters of recommendation from their current employers while they are employed or winding down an assignment. There is no fear of “being found out” when the job is temporary.
Tip #4: Save-Save-Save
I can’t stress this enough. Your Millennial is probably sick of hearing you say, “Live below your means.” Say it again. They should have at least six months of living expenses put aside. They do not know when they will hit a dry spell, which is a fear with freelancing. They are going to have to pay for their health insurance and they had better be loading up their Roth IRA to the max.
Now it’s time for you to get your freelancer that comfy pair of slippers to round-off their new pajama work uniform!
