Why Are Employers Expectations of Technology Adoption Increasing?
There is a one-word answer to the question posed in the title of this blog. That one word is a generation: Millennials. The millennial population, born between 1981 and 1996, are technology natives. Their comfort level with technology is driving the adoption of all kinds of new technologies. Companies are scrambling to keep up with these trends. Here’s what’s going on with technology adoption and why companies are working hard to modernize their legacy applications.
Hyperconnected Millennials Changing Work
Business.com reports that the millennial demand for technology has reshaped our workplaces. The millennial population has overtaken baby boomers as the largest population in the workforce, according to Pew Research. By 2025, according to Deloitte, millennials will comprise 75% of the U.S. labor force. Their technology-savvy characterizes the millennial population, and employers have taken note.
Technology is continually evolving, and the millennial population demands the latest tools. This generation is used to change, and sometimes they are even the driver behind technology advancement. New phone apps, connected devices, smart homes, and even artificial intelligence have all risen to the forefront since this generation began to predominate in the workplace.
Millennials generally focus on using technology to communicate and stay on top of social media. On the whole, this generation is particularly advanced in their use of technology and quickly picks up on new tools and frameworks to improve their connectivity and communication. This trend marks this population as having some unique challenges and expectations for their careers, and this means employers will need to readjust their recruiting and talent management strategies, not to mention their in-house workflows.
Employers take note; if your technology stack isn’t modern, it’s not only bad for business but also bad for talent recruitment in your organization. An article in Spend Matters quoted Rick Imber, SAP’s head of North American extended supply chain as saying the demands of the millennial generation have been a wakeup call for the organization. The result is that SAP is focused on making improvements to their internal technologies that will attract and retain this younger population. The impact on work is evident; technologies that increase communication and collaboration are not only crucial to corporate workflows but also vital to attracting talent.
There are drawbacks to this always-on population, of course. One of the biggest is that social media can be a distraction in the workplace. Since the millennial population has been characterized as more comfortable with texting over talking by phone, recruiters and HR teams should adapt their efforts to leverage more texting when communicating with millennials. However, at the same time, the basics in business are still spreadsheets, emails, and face-to-face meetings, and millennials need to also adapt to some of the more traditional ways of doing business.
Attracting and Retaining Talent Is Something The Custom Group Does Well.
Talk to our team about ways you can adapt your recruiting approach to the tech-savvy millennial generation. Call on our team to help your company find top talent.
