Evolutionary Road

Millennials have a tendency to commingle, forming relationships only within their generation. That is a habit that doesn’t fade with age. According to the Randstad survey, there is little to no interaction between the youngest and oldest age groups at work. Nearly seven in 10 (66 percent) Matures said they had little to no interaction in a typical work week with Millennial co-workers, and a full seven in 10 (71 percent) Millennial employees had the same response.

“[Millennials] don’t feel Matures have anything that would benefit them,” says Lisa Tringali, vice president of Randstad’s Long Island branch. “I just don’t think they feel that older generations have anything to offer.”

The feeling is mutual. There is a tangible dissonance between both ends of the generational spectrum. Robin Murray, 29, works in an office with less than 10 employees. Most of her co-workers are in their early 30s or younger, save for one 58-year-old employee, placing the majority of the company’s staff in the Millennial and Generation Y categories. Still, she says there is a lack of curiosity to learn anything about her older peer, and vice versa.

“It’s not easy. I think there’s a lack of respect because we are so young in here,” Murray says. “And it might also be that because everybody else is young; [the older worker] might feel a little out of place. I think there’s the general consensus that if you’re young, you’re dumb.”

Tech’s Effects

Imagine being part of the Baby Boomer generation—in your mid-50s and already having invested several decades climbing the corporate ladder. Department by department, your company moves to Japan. You feel panic, shock; like a koi out of water. The language is confusing and difficult to understand, and new employees the company hires grasp the language with ease. This is the scenario Baby Boomers are facing, and the language is spoken in a frenzy of nearly indecipherable messages, status updates and 140-character bursts.

“[Millennials] definitely have a better spin on technology than the Boomers,” says Janet Perens-Chesley, vice president of human resources and risk management at Melville-based Lloyd Staffing. “They’ve been raised on it and are much more comfortable with things changing in terms of technology. The Millennials don’t even think about it. That, to them, is natural.”

Modern advances in technology—e-mail, the Internet, social networking—have had a tremendous impact in the workplace, leading to streamlined efficiencies and an infinite stream of information. Millennials, who grew up with things like cell phones, do not know any other way of communicating. Conversely, older generations who spent their youth listening to vinyl records are put in a do-or-die situation to adapt or be left behind.

If the increased connectedness technology brings is its Dr. Jekyll, the effects on the Millennials’ demeanor and ethics are its Mr. Hyde. John Rossini, recruitment relationship manager for Computer Associates, says the trade-off for their tech-savvy nature is a lack of face-to-face communication skills.

“What I find with this generation is that they’re very much into texting, into e-mails, into IMs; whereas they don’t pick up the phone enough,” he says. “They can abbreviate very well, though I think their telephone skills are lacking.”

The omnipresence of technology in the 21st century permeates into all facets of a Millennial’s life. Receive an e-mail from one and fail to reply instantly? Prepare to be hit with a follow-up along the lines of, “Did you get my e-mail?” says Dr. Joseph Scardapane, Hofstra University professor of Clinical Psychology and director of the Saltzman Community Services Center, who believes, “there’s a bit of an impatience there with an older generation who doesn’t see that as the most positive form of communication.”

That impatience translates into a life of instant gratification, where Millennials expect things to be given to them without merit.

“It’s not, ‘What can I do to get to the top?’ it’s, ‘What can you do for me to place me at the top?’” says Randstad’s Tringali.

And if they do not get their way, well let’s just say it might be safer to hold off printing their business cards. The same Randstad survey also found that, while almost eight in 10 (78 percent) Matures claim loyalty to their company, half (50 percent) of Millennials are likely to jump ship.