Oh boy – A world run by Millenials.

We are entering a new era as more and more Generation Y’ers (a.k.a. millennials) start to take over the workforce. A report by Miller, Hodge, Brandt and Schneider (2013) estimates that in 2014, 36% of the workforce is run by these confident, self-centered, tech-savvy multitaskers. What does this mean for customer service, marketing communications and the future faces of the companies we have come to know and love through the years?

This is a generation where piercings, tattoos and being glued to a smart device are not uncommon (Miller et. al., 2013). Thirty percent of millennials share (or overshare) their opinions and other personal information on social media (Miller et. al., 2013). Formal suits in the workplace are being replaced by a “business casual” dress code, and there is increasing tension in the workplace due to conflict between millennials and their baby boomer counterparts, mostly stemming from differences in work ethic (Miller et. al., 2013).

More interesting, upon inspection of songs currently in the Top 40, several of which are sung by millennials, contain the words “I don’t care”. For example, Icona Pop sings “I don’t care…I love it” and Mary Lambert sings “I don’t care if the world knows what my secrets are”. Are such lyrics reflective of the mindset of this generation?

With this in mind, I would like to provide two personal accounts of customer service, more like brand representation, which I have recently experienced in the last month. First was a trip to Sephora. Sephora usually gives its members a birthday gift during the month of the birthday. In the past, I would go to the store to make a purchase and claim my gift. The sales person would be jovial, wishing me a happy birthday and asking me if I had anything special planned. However, this year was different. The sales person, who was clearly a millennial, did not smile throughout the transaction, and did not ask me a single question, let alone wish me happy birthday. She was keen to move onto the next customer.

The second case was a family trip to Disneyland. During one train ride, my husband and I each had one of our sons on our laps. Apparently that was not allowed. In past years, a cheerful “cast member” would have approached us, smiled and made a friendly suggestion for how to handle the situation. However, this year, the cast member, who was clearly a millennial, approached us and sternly said “they can’t sit on your laps”. Now I was unsure whether that meant we would have to get the next train or if she wanted us to reshuffle to a different car. So I asked her and she replied with a sarcastic, “well, I said they can’t be on your laps.” The happiest place on earth? Not during that interaction.

Now, there is a huge chance that this is all coincidental and has nothing to do with age. I am a millennial myself, and would hate to think that I am self-centered or glued to my iPhone. However, this is where I would like some thoughts:

What differences, if any at all, do you see in the future of companies and their approach to marketing, as millennials start to take over an even larger share of the workforce.

References

Miller, Hodge, Brandt & Schneider. (2013). The Young and the Restless: Gen Y’ers in the workplace! Are you prepared? FDCC Quarterly, 63, 3.