Mobile Workforce Report Q4 2010: Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5 | Page 6 | Page 7
Debunking the Millennial Workforce Myth
The tech chasm that has allegedly formed in the workforce created by a cross-generational divide1 – between those who grew-up with technology and those that didn’t – is vastly overstated.
In the world of social media, it has already been reported that the median age of a Facebook user is 38 (older than a millennia2 ) and the average Twitter user is 393. While there are generational differences in work styles across the different age groups, this technology sea change in the workforce actually spans more than just one generation. In fact, iPass puts the median age of a mobile worker today nearly a decade older, somewhere around age 46.
Many pundits compare the new batch of millennials (for the purposes of this report, a millennial is defined as a person age 34 or younger) that are accustomed to flexibility and openness, working side-by-side with baby boomers and Generation-X’ers who work regular hours in a traditional office setting. These pundits believe that the millennials are the ones on the bleeding edge of technology and social media adoption, and form the heart and soul of the consumerization boom that is rattling the IT establishment4. Based on the data uncovered in this quarter’s iPass Mobile Workforce Report, we believe this is only a myth. In reality, older generations are just as disruptive to the status quo in the workforce today.
In this quarter’s iPass report, we looked at smartphone preferences and work habits of mobile users around the world. Surprisingly, we found only minor differences between the various age groups. We also evaluated how personal liability versus corporate liability influenced the habits and behaviors of the mobile workforce, and found it played a much bigger factor on device usage than age.
1 Accenture 2010 Global Research, Jumping the boundaries of corporate IT
2 Wikipedia, Generation Y
3 Flowtown, September 1, 2010, My Mom is on Facebook
4 Accenture 2010 Global Research, Jumping the boundaries of corporate IT
Mobile Workforce Report Q4 2010: Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5 | Page 6 | Page 7
