Gen Y Workers Reinventing IT for the Better

buzzardsbay writes "We all know the complaints about young employees. They depend too much on their parents' money, they need constant hand-holding, they have no job loyalty, they demand more than they're worth, they disrespect older employees, and they're naive about corporate culture. But despite this conventional wisdom, there's growing evidence that the different working styles of Gen Y workers might be causing fundamental — and beneficial — changes in the way enterprises run, especially when it comes to IT. For example, they may show better judgment when making tech purchases and are often better with green IT initiatives. This is a nice counterpoint to a previous story (and resulting incendiary comments) that dubbed young tech workers a risk to corporate networks."

Comments

Generalizing Generations

[Infonaut]

These sorts of broad characterizations about the youngin's have been going on forever.

If you really want some insight into how generations interact in America, and how this interaction influences history, check out Strauss & Howe's Generations, a book published in 1991 that still offers many insights.

Re:Generalizing Generations

[fermion]

The negative generalizations are of little use, and often such things are not the fault of the worker, but broad based specific items can help.

For instance, it is very true that kids are being educated in a much more targeted fashion, and many are being taught that if education is not interesting, it is not worthwhile. The impact of this is that for entry level workers, the methods of training are going to have to change to match the methods used in secondary school. Such is a specific challenge for the average colleges, as some methods use in secondary school are too expensive or inappropriate for college. This, along with more students pushed to college, is part of what leads to the high rate of freshman failure seen at more colleges.

There are other issues. For instance, for the past 20 years of so we have been in an economic expansion in the US, driven by increasingly easy credit and increasingly cheap imports. The result of this is business managers who do not know who to be conservative to survive, even thrive, in the normal business cycle, and kids who have grown up with relatively little rationing of resources. In an area where nearly everyone is lower class or below the poverty line, almost everyone has a music player, a video game console, and a TV, a level of luxury that did not exist 30 years ago. Hungry people work harder than the sated.

Of course, as others have mentioned there are changes in the priorities of the old people. Baby boomers, concerned about their paycheck, are resorting to hiring contract workers, then complaining when the work does not get done. If they hire a worker, it is often under long and difficult probation conditions, which gives the new worker no incentive to stay. Though most universities are full of money, their professorial staff is contract and without tenure, and the boomers in washington are wondering no one wants to go into research or university teaching? In fact, if I were as condescending as the old people who write these books, I would say all our problems is the result of the boomer generation, those that railed and connived to get out of their duty, but has no problem sending other people children into the same fight. Fortunately, I am not so simplistic.

Mom's money, what's wrong with that?

[gnutoo]

Ask Bill Gates if there's anything wrong with having lots of backing when you need it. Getting time on computers in high school, going to college and having a backing were all very good for Microsoft. The same lessons and more apply today because there are far fewer "real" jobs to go around thanks to H1B stuff. Ignoring resources is harmful.

Re:Job Loyalty? How about orker loyalty?

[electrictroy]

I've been working as a "1 year contractor" ever since 1999 (I graduated 1997). I have no loyalty whatsoever. This is just a way to collect money for my future retirement.

Younger workers are bolder and more informed.

[Spy der Mann]

As easy as that. It's not easy to change a whole corporate culture, so in the end you have to break the rules to get more efficient.

For example - a friend told me that due to company policies, the SSL port was blocked by the company, so there was no way to securely communicate with the outside (or between the workers themselves, for example, by testing the network - a lot of them used MSN). What kind of policy is that? Just to keep information from leaking without being detected? How about emergencies? People then transferred files and information via open chat, where EVERYBODY could see it. Including non-loyal employees. Last thing I knew is that my friends' team ended up using http tunnelling. In the end, nothing was gained and the IT team spent more time than they should to just work around stupid company policies.

Another example: Forbidding non-default apps, I think this was discussed before. So you can't for example install software that will make your Windows safer, like Ad-aware or Firefox.

This is the problem about management. You just put an idiot in front of the department and have him send orders here and there. But programmers are hackers by nature, we find out how things work and find a way to make them more efficient - whether authorized or not. And the difference between younger and older people is that older people tend to play more by the rules - even when they know the rules are WRONG.

A "safe computing" seminar given by a security expert, could make things much more efficient at work, and educate employees to act smarter instead of having to babysit them with counterproductive policies.

Gen Y

[rijrunner]

    I think the big difference is not anything they point out here.

    1) Face it, computers are basically as intimidating as cash registers. They are tools. Nothing more, nothing less. There is a mind set in a lot of workers - of any age - to be intimidated by certain technologies. Younger workers are more likely to be less intimidated by computers as they are familiar with them. Stick a Gen-Y in front of the controls of a 747 and you get a different reaction. Basically, the Gen-Y's are being presented with a technology for which they have a framework to be able to approach the technology as a tool, not a roadblock.

      Seriously.. in the IT field, we can tell who will be good at IT based upon how intimidated they are by the box coming in the door.

  2) As to length of time at a job.. well, the days of going down and getting that job at the town mill/factory and working until retirement are gone. I recall my father working a couple years at one job, then moving to the next job, then the next trying to build up that resume so he could land a job at one of the major plants in the area. When you get down to it, I think a lot of the view of how-things-were is nothing more than mis-remembering how things were. Back then, the US was where the jobs were and the companies planned to stay around awhile and there were unions to act as a balance. Companies promoted from within. Usually.

    Now? It was not the Gen-Y's who moved the garment industry to Central America and China in the 1970's. They weren't even born yet. They did not move the auto industry to Japan. They did not move the semi-conductor industry to Taiwan. They aren't the ones moving IT jobs to India now.

    They are the ones who are going to have to deal with those moves. They are the ones who have to come up with a coping mechanism for the current state of business.

    And, one of those realities is that there is no industry or company that there is a reasonable expectation of retirement in 30 years. Get a job in IT and, even if it looks good now, what will the new CEO do in 5 years?

    While I think there is hope for the individuals that comprise Gen-Y and a lot of companies, I don't see too much overlap in their outlooks. Companies do *not* have much loyalty to their employees and will look at the bottom-line first. The employees need to do the same. Gen-Y seems to better adapted to this sort of reality as it is the one they grew up in.

Can i mod the description flamebait?

[blhack]

The description is just flat out wrong.
Employees today (skilled employees, not "data input specialists") are OVER educated for their jobs. Think about how common it is for people to be in college these days. EVERYONE has a bachelor's degree in something. Schools are pumping out MBAs by the Auditorium load. The sad thing is that these people are UNDER paid.
Their bosses expectations are also WAY too high. People work 60+ hours a week for 30,000 a year. These are people with college degrees! These same people are given HUGE ammounts of responsibility, but very little authority to actually take care of their responsibilities without interaction from "higher-ups".

The pay scales need to change.
$30,000 a year might have been enough money to live on in 1990, but it isn't anymore. Try and rent an apartment in a major city in this country on a $30,000 a year salary. Now pay your power bill, your internet bill (so that you can work even while you're AT HOME), pay your car payment, your insurance, buy the clothes that meet your companies dress code, oh yeah, and maybe even buy food while you're at it. Don't even THINK about buying gas for that car too.

As far as disrespect towards older employees:
This is just ridiculous. Age should NOT be an issue related to making decisions. It should be based on experience, and knowledge. If I am more experience, and more knowledgeable about a topic then you are, you're damned right I'm going to tell you if you are forcing me to do something that is going to make ME look bad. /rant over.

Re:Can i mod the description flamebait?

[CRCulver]

$30,000 a year might have been enough money to live on in 1990, but it isn't anymore. Try and rent an apartment in a major city in this country on a $30,000 a year salary. Now pay your power bill, your internet bill (so that you can work even while you're AT HOME), pay your car payment, your insurance, buy the clothes that meet your companies dress code, oh yeah, and maybe even buy food while you're at it. Don't even THINK about buying gas for that car too.

FWIW, I lived for two years in Chicago on US$12,000. I had no problem making ends meet. If you live in a large city, you don't need a car because public transportation is adequate. You can bargain with your local neighbourhood dry cleaner's if you are giving them suits to press on a regular basis. I paid all my bills and evidentally had a lot left over, because I bought hundreds of CDs and books in that period. Now, I reside in Finland on what is probably an even small budget and get by just fine.

What you really need a lot of money for in the U.S. or anywhere is raising a family, but if as a single person you can't get buy on a small income, you should really check to see if you have a hole in your pocket.

tech familiarity is limited to household toys

[petes_PoV]

The claim in the article is that since these people grew up with technology they have a better idea of how to make purchases.

So far as I am aware, none of these guys grew up in a datacentre, with terabytes of enterprise storage, robotic backups, commercial quality databases or corporate security policies. To try and scale up from having a Nintendo as a child, to being able to instantly grasp the complexities of a mulitnational network infrastructure is a bit of a leap.

If people think that because they have always had a PC or a Mac, that qualifies them to have an opinion on "IT" (whatever that is) then there are going to be some rather big surprises coming.
However that could explain a lot of the more egregious IT problems in industry and commerce.

Gen Y gets it right.

[iknownuttin]

I don't know how old you are. My daughter is 26 and I noticed that she and her friends value friendships more than careers. Much more than my generation did. They also value the quality of life more. Meaning, life doesn't revolve around career or the job. Yes, they'll spend time and $$$ training and learning, but it's not the end all like my generation. I busted my ass in my career and so did my friends. My career is meaningless now and all of my "friends" have moved on.

I think the Gen Y or Millenials or whatever they're called has their priorities in order. Basing your life on your career and job is idiotic and I think that's where my generation is clueless when it comes the Gen Y'ers attitude towards work. They mistake wanting a life with apathy towards their job. Jobs come and go and are easy to get; but people who really matter to you are hard to find.

Re:Gen Y gets it right.

[Anonymous Coward]

I think it's not so much Gen X vs. Y, but a cycle that happens over and over again with different families in every generation. One generation starts with almost nothing, scrimps and saves, busts their asses and works insane hours. They build a future for their children -- instilling work ethics, providing money for education, etc.

But then their kids look around them and weigh things. They're already starting pretty well off. They're going to college, and they can probably get a decent job without having to work as hard as their parents. They want to spend time with their kids. So they end up working less hard, making less money, and probably being happier in general.

It's not a hard rule, and I'm not trying to condemn either side. It's just what I've seen over the years, both in my family and among a number of friends who are from immigrant families. They're not slackers, by any stretch. They're becoming young doctors, lawyers, business people. But they are making conscious choices to limit their earnings potential and go into less stressful and demanding working conditions than their parents did.

The fundamentals NEVER change.

[khasim]

And therefore, it's nihilistic to impose at least a portion of seemingly ancient platitudes on generations that have no context for them.

The fundamentals NEVER change. If they did, they would not be fundamentals. From TFA:

"Everybody in my generation wants to be a leader," says Healy. "There are 22 year-olds who already say they want a leadership position, and they're ready for that. I think it's a pretty cool thing."

Everyone on the team cannot be a leader. What they WANT and what one them thinks the others are ready for does not matter.

What matters and what will ALWAYS matter are the RESULTS.

This article is beyond stupid. It's littered with "may" and "could".

Realize that the 50 year olds of today were the kids of the 60's.

Some perspective on respect

[MikeRT]

I'm 24, my section manager is 37 and my department manager is 44.

When my department manager called design meetings on products he wanted to design, I frequently shot down his ideas.

Why?

Because they're so bad that a 24 year old with 2 years out of college can pick them up with just a spot check from looking at his ideas. I can't disclose the details for the usual reasons, but suffice it to say that the ideas ranged from "no one would buy it because no one could use it" to "you might get our customers arrested for trying to market a product that can evade European telecommunication laws."

Let me tell you, it's hard working someone who is nearly twice your age, makes probably 3 times more than you do, and you know has no freakin' idea about how to design a product and get it out there to the customer, especially when he originally came from a technical background. It's hard because of the fact that everytime you interact with them, you feel like you are in a twilight zone where competence varies directly with youth.

Here's a fact, that hopefully people will learn someday. There is little connection between age and wisdom. Age will in fact make those who lack wisdom even worse because it gives them time to compound their foolishness.

Re:Job Loyalty? How about orker loyalty?

[mclearn]

I hate ignorant comments like this. Do you realize the massive amount of work required to run a company? Do you understand the job security you have as an employee of a company? It's *my* job to make sure you continue to have a job. It's my job to work ridiculous hours and be on call for things you can't even imagine. I have to be multi-talented, multi-disciplined, multi-tasking, and multi-personality. I have to understand the nuances of industries that aren't even related to my field. I spend massive amounts of money and personal time making sure that YOU are able to produce for me without being sidetracked by unrelated issues.

So don't tell me that I don't deserve it.

PS: For all of those people about to come back with crap-ass comments about "I should pay you more to retain you.", let me get that out of the way. I pay what I can. In fact, I go without pay to make sure you get paid. Yes, perhaps I'm in the minority, but you know what? Those years that are better than others? I'll take my fair share. If I am directly responsible for procuring 100% of the business, and you are responsible for creating a product that retains that business, then I trump you anyday. This is what people don't understand: sales *is* hard. If it were easier, you'd get paid more.

Re:Job Loyalty? How about orker loyalty?

[cayenne8]

"I've been working as a "1 year contractor" ever since 1999 (I graduated 1997). I have no loyalty whatsoever. This is just a way to collect money for my future retirement."

I agree 100%. I like my work, and will work my butt off, but, I will not work for free. I hope I never have to have a salary job again. Even when I have to do some contract work W2, I go hourly. But, I prefer c2c 1099 work. I can easily afford my own insurance (I'm a bit of a risk, but, still only about $200/mo)...and with the high deductible insurance, I can run my own HSA (Health Savings Account), and sock away about $2900/yr pre-tax, and use that to pay any medical fees...glasses, contacts...OTC meds, etc. The HSA isn't use it or lose it as are the medical savings accounts you get as a direct employee. I can also invest the money in the HSA like an IRA..and have it grow over time too. In the long run, you can come out way ahead that way.

Also, if you incorporate, you can write stuff off (cell phone, mileage, internet connectivity)...and best of all, with an "S" corp, you can save a good deal of money spent on employment taxes (SS, Medicare).

I'm loyal to whomever wants to pay me. I'll work when they need, as much as they need, but, I will make money for ever second I'm there. I'll happily take that money, and invest it myself for my retirement.

Years back, I learned that the old days of company job for life was over. The companies have NO loyalty at all for employees. I figured, fine...if that's the case, then I'll treat them the same way. If I'm just a body....then they are just a paycheck, and I'll go wherever the biggest paycheck comes from.

Re:Riddled with stereotypes

[g0bshiTe]

I currently work in IT, have been the last 7 or so years. Before that I was a grease monkey, nothing I loved more than fixing a car. Today when my car breaks down, I take it to someone else. When my computer breaks down, I fix it myself. The reason I do this, is I love working on computers as much as I used to love working on cars. They are both similar to an extent, most computer fixes not software related are swapping out a part, theres 90% or better of your car fixes, diagnostics, troubleshooting. The major difference in the two for me, rather than fighting through an inch layer of grease the dirtiest thing in a PC I fight are dust bunnies. I still love working on cars, but not as much as I used to.

Re:Applause is in order

[QRDeNameland]

NSFW?!? Not safe, period!!!!

Re:Job Loyalty? How about orker loyalty?

[Anonymous Coward]

You want to talk about ridiculous hours? Come back when you've spent 36 hours over the span of two days in a 63 degree datacenter without so much as a chair.

This is exactly the attitude that gets your IT staff pissed off. When half of their work can only be performed after everyone else has gone home for the day and are on call 24/7 for whenever something goes wrong, believe me, you certainly don't trump them.

Re:Job Loyalty? How about orker loyalty?

[cayenne8]

"See parent post - when you can be laid off at any time, when your work doesn't give a crap about you, when the employer is constantly trying to find new and inventive ways to screw you for health insurance or even for basic wages, why should you be "loyal" to them?"

From my previous post...you'll see I am not a proponent of 'loyalty' for many reasons you put forth.

But, as far as basic wages...you gotta learn (the earlier the better) how to negotiate for max $$. A bit hard to do on 1st job, but, after that....you gotta be tough and negotiate what you think you're worth. Know the market...know what a company's general salary paid is...etc. Research helps. Don't go in blind if you can help it.

And as far as health insurance. See my post above. Especially if you are young...try to get your own private insurance...high deductible, and open a HSA to max out each year to pay for your medical needs. If you're normal and reasonable healthy, all you really need is catastrophic coverage. Pay for normal needs out of the tax free HSA funds. It cuts your tax liabilty, and in the long run, you can come out WAY ahead. There is no need to pay lots of money monthly for a group plan just for co-pays and the like. If you're paying out of your own pocket...tell the Dr...they will give you a cut rate over what they charge insurance companies 99% of the time. You can also choose what Dr. you want....shop around for medical just like you do anything else.

Re:Riddled with stereotypes

[Rtech]

The way I see this, as a college student who grew up around computers and had one in the house by 94(or thereabouts, I was kinda young then), is that by now there's really no need to re-invent the wheel-- programming is quite (not difficult, but somewhat frustrating at times) enough as it is, and since we've had a while to understand software modularity, it's not shallowness, it's putting components together to make a different part. Somewhat like the difference between a Ford Model T that is hand-assembled versus a custom kit car built entirely from other components. *shrug* Maybe I'm in the wrong field, but I like using components that "just work" and putting them to use in different ways, and as long as a library exists to do it, why not use it?

Re:Job Loyalty? How about orker loyalty?

[plague3106]

Really? I hate the silver spoon assholes myself. Then again, I'm a Gen-Y who had to work my way up and had a job at age 14.

Well, I'm only a Gen-Xer, but it seems that you are an exception to the rule when it comes to Gen Y.

See parent post - when you can be laid off at any time, when your work doesn't give a crap about you, when the employer is constantly trying to find new and inventive ways to screw you for health insurance or even for basic wages, why should you be "loyal" to them? How about when I watched my dad, a "loyal" employee for three decades, booted out the door after his company was acquired with the equivalent of a "don't let the door hit you on the way out"???

This I agree with. I never have known company loyalty, I survived a layoff only because I was a better value than the employees they let go.

I pretty much agree with the rest of your post.. but don't fool yourself, Gen Y seems more sliver-spooned. Don't feel too bad though, the current crop of kids seem even worse.

Re:Job Loyalty? How about orker loyalty?

[cayenne8]

"Except of course when said catastrophy does occur, you're fucked because you choose a high deductable plan. You're fooling yourself if you think people will tuck money away to cover it."

Well, at some point in your life, you DO have to start thinking responsibly!

A high deductible like I have..is only $1200. That isn't that high, and I have more than that amount of money in my HSA (remember the Health Savings Account I mentioned earlier?). Again, that HSA money is tax free...

Really, especially if you are young, you don't have to worry about serious health concerns....heart attacks, etc. Just some kind of bad accident usually. In that case...you're bills are gonna be MUCH more than $1200....

But for the most part....you're never gonna spend that much in a year. Maybe a couple hundred a year for medical needs if you're healthy (a Dr. visit and some meds). You can pay that yourself out of the HSA...

When I say high deductible...I'm not talking like $5K. I chose $1200 and I could have gone less...but, that dropped my monthly payments to like a bit over $200.

And don't forget...I mentioned that if you tell the Dr. you're paying on you own, they usually charge you much less for exams and procedures than they do the insurance co. For example. I recently had a MRI done. Normal fee I think was over $1200. I paid only $700....with money I had in my HSA set aside JUST for such a need.

My test was normal...cool. So, now that I stay healthy...I keep socking MY money back into MY savings for health, rather than going to an insurance company that makes money off the interest...and tries to argue with you when you need it back. I sock away my money, and make interest on it AND get a tax break for it, which also reduces my taxable income so, less paid the the government.

Yes, it does require some responsibility on the part of the person, but, that personal responsibility is what made the US great in its early years. And if you just try a bit of it now...you can come out WAY ahead of the masses that want someone to do it for them.

Re:Riddled with stereotypes

[recharged95]

I don't know, but I think my generation (1 behind the youngins') is used to developing their own stuff in a changing development environment (Cobol, Fortran, Pascal, Obj-C, C, C++. Java, Pyhton, Tcl, PHP, SGML, HTML, XML, sh, csh, bash, basic, VB, C#). Development's been more stable nowadays with C/C++, Java, .Net, and LAMP dev. I haven't see

Our younger folk is used to using different technologies in a changing application environment (yahoo, google, win98, winxp, osx, desktops, laptops, mobile pdas).

In the end, I think the older generation can develop the better tools. The new generation can create the better apps. Just like in my generation, the older gen was better at creating the h/w tools for us to create great s/w frameworks. Hence why the newer gen needs the older gen.

And the world is complete again.

Re:Job Loyalty? How about orker loyalty?

[plague3106]

Sorry, but my opinion is based on exerience. For some reason, I (and my generation seemlingly) was able to adapt to work environments without incident. I don't recall similar complaints about Gen Xers. Others seem to agree. Which was nice, because I was always told we were lazy slackers.

As far as people are the same; no, not really. Only 50 years ago it was mostly unheard of for women to have a job at all, certainly nothing like the positions they fill today. In other words, societies DO change. Unless you want to argue we have the same society as Babelon?

Generation & gender issues are mostly hysteria

[Qbertino]

My Senior in the last company I worked for is around about 55 right now. He's one of the best programmers I've every worked with. Humorous, patient, respectfull to me (ca. 15 years younger, his subordinate), allways helpfull and an absolute wizbang when it comes to picking up new technology. And allthough me made no secret of it that he thought I am not as good a programmer as I might be a key account manager or consultant, he allways had a good word for my coding and my ideas. Some of which were better than his which he never denied. I introduced him to Linux, Python and OSS Webkits (he had like 20 years of Pascal & Delphi under his belt :-) ) and he was way ahead of me 6 months later.

The Project Manager I'm now working with as contract Lead Programmer is a 22 years old Media Designer Trainee. He's 16 years younger than me. In his spare time (nights and weekends) he's the founder, Project Lead and lead modeler of Star Wars - The New Era, a Half-Life 2 Total Conversion Mod that allready has raised some brows of Lucas Arts Execs. The man (boy?) is a fucking genius. He sucks at programming but that's not his job. ... He actually *can* programm a few lines of PHP (also because I help him along) - but *everyone* should be able to do that in a PL of his choice - remember the C64 days? What an upside it is to know what computers were built for, no? ... On it goes: He's at least as slow and detailed in his work and as easyly distracted as I am, but that's no problem. Because when he's moderating our talk with the Boss, explaining our custom CRM to end-customers, staying calm when I get all agitated over some issue or just plain doing the template/testing grunt-work it just feels great to have him around.

If I had 10 Million Euros to found the kind of IT company I have in mind, these two would be the first I'd call. They are more than 30 years apart. And I somehow can't shake the feeling they both would get along with each other wonderfully aswell.

Bottom line: Generation & gender issues are mostly hysteria. If you've got the right people it nearly matters squat what age they are, if they are a man or a woman, if they are a Granny/Grandpa or barely out of school. And if they are the right people, they all will get along perfectly. That's my experience anyway.

Re:Don't try to pretend that execs aren't overpaid

[Dan Farina]

...Actually, if you define "The US" as "The World" then you might be right. But executive compensation *in the US* is positively insane compared to all other countries that are ostensibly our peers.

http://www.motherjones.com/news/exhibit/2006/05/perks_of_privilege.html

Fooling yourself into thinking this is a rational and efficient free market reminiscent of the one described by Smith is a naive and charming fairy tale, as well as an impressive feat of self delusion. The real problem is that this not a free market, but mostly one of good ol' boys clubs and cronies who also have the influence and power to rewrite the rules of the game in their favor.