In increasingly turbulent times values become really important because they are like guiding lights that help us to navigate through the hundreds of decisions we need to make every day. Although labels can be a bit dangerous, it’s helpful to be able to group cohorts together so we can increase our understanding of the needs and motivations of our fellow people.
Here is a list of things that millennials care about.
- Meaningful work
- Having memorable experiences
- Family and social connections
- Fairness, diversity and inclusion
- Work life balance
- Positive change, non profits and charities
- Health and wellness
Millenials who are born in the 1980s or 1990s, so right now they are between 25 years old and 40 years, it is a wide group of people spanning those are just entering the workforce, young families and people with a good amount of experience in the workforce. However this article is about the things that they have in common rather than how they differ. They have lived most of their lives after the excesses of the 80s so their motivations are less about money and more about experiences.
They want to make a positive impact on their friends and the wider world. So money is only important if they are also working for a company that care about them and the wider world.
Millennials want to have incredible experiences so are likely to go on adventures or more holidays that are less about lying around by the pool but more about doing something new, interesting and more unusual.
Diversity and equality is important to millennials. In their spare time, millennials are likely to do things like spend time with friends and family, exercise, or learning something new. Courses and new ways to learn are really important to them. Learning new languages on apps such as Babbel which is a subscription-based language learning software and e-learning platform, available in various languages since January 2008.
Work life balance
Millenials have grown up in an age of constant technological connection. Due to having smart phones they are always able to access emails, so this is why it has become more important for them to be able to switch off and have more of a work life balance. The constant connection has created a situation where Millennials feel like they are always “on”.
According to a 2015 EY study, Millennials find it harder to achieve work-life balance because they are almost twice as likely to have a spouse or partner who works at least full time than Boomers (78 percent versus 47 percent). This also means that they are afforded the ability to have more balance. Fathers are taking paternity leave and mothers are returning to work after having babies earlier.
Read more about online learning platforms on this post HERE. The online learning revolution.