Gone are the days of going to the office for that “9 to 5” job. (I can still remember the words to the famous Dolly Parton song from 1980, although I have a feeling that Millennials may struggle with both the song and the concept!)  Today’s companies have changed the employment model to “work as needed;” a new standard that allows employers to save lots of money by not supporting full-time employees with commensurate benefits. Our current day jargon calls these people “freelancers,” which allows the ultimate flexibility for companies who can gear up and down instantaneously.  According to a The Intuit 2020 Report, these guns for hire will comprise 40 percent of the 2020 U.S. workforce, or about 60 million people (a number that was just 42.6 million in 2006). That’s a staggering number of workers, who will not be intimately involved with the corporate mother ship.  I’m concerned about this new “connected” workforce actually being “unconnected.” Does it bode well for the future creativity and sensitivity of the companies we want to foster in our country? I believe that face-to-face idea sharing and comradery is important for creative thinking. The office environment also allows for the tactical implementation of ideas to be carried out more efficiently, especially if you are eyeball-to-eyeball with the team that is accountable to each other.  Don’t get me wrong. I love technology and our ability to digitally connect. I grew up in the world of “Wite-Out®.” (Millennials think that is a term to worry about only while skiing or driving!) The new world of technology allows for instantaneous communication – globally; however, it doesn’t replace the three “Cs” or Collaboration, Comradery and Commitment.  If you have no job security and you are basically disposable, why would you feel loyal? Millennials get a bad reputation for feeling that way and for being fickle, demanding a lot and jumping ship often. Ty Kiisel, in his 2012 Forbes article, “Gimme, Gimme, Gimme – Millennials in the Workplace”, captured this sentiment really well.  The other interesting issue in today’s world is one of cyber security. Companies grapple with giving part-timers the keys to the castle. Full-time employees are better known to the company and in most cases they will be given access to data that would be harder to give to a temporary worker.  Your Millennial offspring may be more comfortable with this new reality because they may have graduated when the recession hit and working from home as a freelancer for a distant corporation may be more meaningful than filling cups of coffee at Starbucks. Underemployment is a disease afflicting many Millennials. Freelancing is not all bad; it allows a work-life balance, which can be a real motivator for this generation. Salary and work-work-work are not the drivers that they were for Baby Boomers. This new phenomena of flex-hours allows for the real motivator of “flex-life”.
With 40 percent of the workforce expected to be independent contractors by 2020, there is no doubt that the 9 to 5 workday has officially clocked out. Millennials are now entering workforce as "freelancers," but still require the work discipline that Baby Boomers have been accustomed to throughout their career. The earning part is critical to a sound financial future, so make sure you follow these four tips when sitting down with your Millennial about the new "pajama workplace."