Understanding Millennials: What They Want and Why It Matters

Today, we’re diving into the world of Millennials – a generation often in the spotlight, yet frequently misunderstood.

This is a continuation of our series looking at the various generations as we believe this type of information is essential whether you’re an employer, an employee, a business owner wondering what your potential clients want or need, or a property investor wanting to understand the needs of the different generations.

Born between the early 1980s and mid-1990s, Millennials have grown up in a time of rapid technological change, economic upheaval, and shifting social norms.

They’ve been labelled everything from entitled to entrepreneurial, and their impact on the workforce, the economy, and our communities is profound. But what’s the real story behind the headlines?

So, whether you’re a Millennial yourself, working with them, or just curious about what makes this generation tick, stick around as we decode the many layers of this often-misunderstood cohort.

The Millennial Shift: Career, Housing, and Technology Trends

In this insightful podcast episode, we discuss Millennial career choices, housing trends, and the significant impact technology has had on their lives. Our conversation unpacks the challenges and opportunities Millennials face as they navigate an era of economic security and technological advancement.

• The upbringing and economic context of millennials, born between 1982 and 1999, and their journey toward middle management roles
• The ‘tyranny of choice’ in career paths and how millennials prioritize job satisfaction and meaningful work
• The educational challenges millennials face, including degree inflation and delayed workforce entry
• The generational shift in values, with millennials seeking meaning in work and lifestyle choices over materialism
• Why Millennials are taking longer to hit milestones
• Financial challenges millennials encounter compared to their parents’ achievements and the psychological impact of these comparisons
• Millennials’ extended rental periods and the anticipated demographic shift towards urban fringes for family-sized homes
• How Millennials’ formative years with basic mobile phones shielded them from social media pressures faced by Gen Z
• Millennials’ structured lifestyles and distinct communication preferences and how they impact workplace dynamics
• How social and environmental issues shape the behaviors and the consumer choices Millennials
• How Millennials approach health and well-being
• Misconceptions about Millennials
• Next week’s discussion about Gen Z

Whether you’re an employer, marketer, or property investor, this discussion equips you with the knowledge needed to connect with and support this vital workforce.

Some of our favorite quotes from the show:

“It seems that millennials, as we’ve started to say, are leaving some of those decisions that their parents or generations before them made earlier: the decision to put down their roots, to get a job, to get married they’re taking a gap year.” – Michael Yardney

“Millennials, through the long life approach, stayed into the rental stage, the pre-home ownership stage of the life cycle, for longer.” – Simon Kuestenmacher

“So, my kids being millennials, I’ve noticed that they don’t like picking up the phone as much to talk. It’s very different from my generation where you’d speak to people of my parents’ generation who’d write to people.” – Michael Yardney

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