Dr. Michael Strawser says millennials will soon dominate -- and redefine -- the workplace, so it would be wise for older professionals to adapt.
In an
opinion column for Louisville's Courier Journal, Strawser — an assistant professor and director of graduate programs in Bellarmine University's School of Communication — notes that millennials will make up 75 percent of the U.S. workforce by 2030.
Millennials are generally recognized as those born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s.
"I know it’s difficult to work with millennials," wrote Strawser. "It’s hard to believe, but they would say you are hard to work with as well. If you can harness their skill set, the entitled, collaborative, flexible, civic-minded millennial generation can be invaluable to your organization."
Strawser's advice: be open to new ways of working. Reinforce good ideas, and correct bad ones. "The workforce will be fine, the economy will survive, and you have to retire eventually anyway," he said.
Read the entire column.