Ch ch changes
Occupy Wall Street has gone global. Protestors are fighting for a myriad of issues and causes. I don’t want to get too political (this is a company blog) nor will I pretend to understand everything (I am, after all, just your average sword-wielding superhero). But I think it should be brought up; especially from a non-political standpoint in a business environment. Regardless of what side of the issues you fall on, companies should take note. Although people supporting the movement are diverse and range in age, race, and gender, many are calling this a Generation Y or Millennial movement. And whether you like it or not, they are your current and future workforce.
They are a different generation, raised with different values and beliefs. Somehow companies will have to find a way to engage and retain this generation of managers, leaders, and employees. Long gone are the days of finding a job and staying until retirement even if you despise it because hey, it’s a paycheck. Millennials on average only stay at a job for 3.1 years. And now, finding a good job is even harder no matter what degree or experience you have. It’s disaffecting. In response, many Millennials are forgoing the typical job and forging their own path. I know several people who’d rather wait tables and do something that makes them happy on the side than take a bad corporate job. They aren’t their parents’ generation. With the economy the way it is, Occupy Wall Street going down, maybe it’s a good time for businesses (both large AND small) to rethink the way it treats employees and vice versa. I’m not trying to trivialize OWS and the larger issues at play. But we all know how this began. Plus we spend a minimum of 40 hours a week at work. It’s more time then we spend with friends and sometimes family. And at the end of the day we need each other. Businesses need workers and we need jobs. So maybe, just maybe, we could figure out a way to make it a better experience for all of us. Call me crazy. It wouldn’t be the first time.
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