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Millennials Favor Small Companies

Topics: Current Events

Members of Generation Y eschew big companies and the possibility of bigger salaries to work for startups and smaller companies. Ever wonder what is up with that?

(Photo Credit: AFGE/Flickr)

If you were born in 1982 or later, then you are part of Generation Y, also known as Millennials. You are also more likely than older workers to be employed in a company with less than 100 people. The economic downturn has resulted in the needs and expectations of Gen Y being vastly different than older generations.

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Collaboration Is Key

More than previous generations, Millennials want to collaborate with each other at work, instead of respecting a hierarchy imposed upon them from above. Small companies may harness this willingness and desire to put heads together and work as a group more easily than behemoth companies with policies and procedures being handed down from, sometimes, a corporate office in another state.

Millennials are less impressed with job titles, and more interested in being a part of brainstorming and decision-making.

Millenials Are Tech-Savvy

Gen Y has grown up with the internet. They communicate with each other via social media and texting as easily as former generations wrote a letter or picked up the land-line. They want to work in environments that are comfortable with internet and technology and, above all else, they don’t want to hear “but we’ve always done it this way.”

Gen Y has grown up with a fast-changing pace of technology making massive strides over the course of their lifetimes. They are more comfortable in smaller companies that utilize social media.

Baby Boomers Are Still at Work

The oldest Baby Boomers are approaching 70 years of age. Many of them, as well as those in the generation before them, cannot afford to retire. Therefore, they keep their jobs, which are often in management, and make it harder for younger workers to move up in an established company. Small companies and startups are more likely to offer Gen Y the opportunities for meaningful work and decision-making that they are looking for.

Gen Y tends to be unpretentious and prefers the more casual environment that smaller companies offer. They may show up to work in jeans, tweeting about their morning. They will then collaborate with the owner as easily as with a coworker.

Tell Us What You Think

Do you prefer working for big or small companies, and why? Leave a comment or join the discussion on Twitter.


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