Survey Findings

Finding Eight: Millennials and Xers Want Cutting-Edge Technology

It’s hard to walk down the street these days without seeing a young adult immersed in his or her smartphone. Millennials like to have cutting-edge technology everywhere they go—including the workplace.

High shares of both Millennials and Gen Xers “strongly agree” that they “like to work with state-of-the-art technology,” while Boomers (especially older Boomers) rate this as significantly less important. Millennials also rate their employers’ performance in this area the lowest, while older Boomers rank their employers’ performance the highest. This means that Millennials have by far the largest gap—a gaping 32 percentage points—between what they want and what they have when it comes to technology. Younger and older Xers have 23- and 25-point gaps, respectively, while younger and older Boomers have far smaller 18- and 12-point gaps.

State-of-the-art technology in the workplace is clearly of prime importance both to Xers and to Millennials, though Millennials are the most dissatisfied with what is currently offered. Technology is important to each of these generations in different ways. With their team-oriented outlook, many Millennials value the way technology can help them stay constantly connected and collaborate with colleagues to accomplish more. Xers tend to value its capacity to empower them as individuals, to cut out useless middlemen, and to create more streamlined efficiency. Employers would do well to show both of these younger generations that their workplace integrates digital information technology seamlessly and sensibly into the daily work routine.