Millennials are shopping. In stores!
Posted On July 8, 2015
They should be the online shopping generation. With millennials’ digital upbringing, one would think they’d never need to step foot inside something as outdated as an actual store. Or worse, a mall. One might be surprised, then, to learn that 82 percent of the Millennials surveyed in global market research by Accenture actually prefer shopping in stores, like the Baby Boomers and Generation X before them. Internet shopping outlets, after all, still have not devised a way to try on clothes online. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, 38 percent of the customers at King of Prussia – the Philadelphia area’s… Read More
Categories: Generation Y / Millennials
The Way to a Millennial’s Heart
Posted On June 11, 2015
What’s the way to a millennial’s heart? Is it through hashtags, rock bands, gourmet coffee and tablet giveaways? Some churches these days seem to think so, trying to project themselves as “hip” in order to draw millennials back to organized religion. They’ve eschewed more traditional church services in favor of slickly produced, high-tech gatherings with trendy names and logos and an emphasis on style over substance. Blogger and author Rachel Held Evans believes they’re missing the point, and that’s what has them missing the mark on their goal of attracting a younger audience. Nearly 60 percent of people ages 18… Read More
Categories: Generation Y / Millennials
Midlife Crisis – it’s coming. Best to pair up.
Posted On May 5, 2015
How do you avoid a mid-life crisis? Chances are, you probably don’t. But a study from the National Bureau of Economic Research shows that one way to lessen its effects is to get married. That study was based off two surveys in Great Britain, so you might be wondering if marriage is typically more tranquil across the pond, but it really makes sense: Life crises – even, or perhaps especially, psychological ones – are tougher to deal with alone. Time Magazine notes that if you couple that information with data from the Pew Research Center, which shows fewer Millennials are… Read More
Categories: Generation X, Generation Y / Millennials
Millennials and homes – hurry up and flip
Posted On April 30, 2015
They’re upwardly mobile. They’re rootless. Sentimentality is not their thing. They’re attuned to current trends. And they have different goals and dreams than their parents. So it should be no surprise that Millennials often have different goals than previous generations when they go to buy a house — and it behooves the real estate market to recognize that. Citing the results of recent reports from the National Board of Realtors and the TD Bank Mortgage Service Index, Forbes Magazine notes that Millennials are the largest group of home-buyers in the country – 32 percent of the market – and more… Read More
Categories: Generation Y / Millennials, Home Ownership
You Can’t Judge Every Individual By His Generation
Posted On April 28, 2015
We live in a digital age, so it only stands to reason that Millennials will be quicker to adapt and integrate new technologies into their everyday lives than Baby Boomers and Generation Xers. The folks at Millward Brown Digital set out to test that theory, but instead found something far more elemental: You can’t judge every individual by his or her generation. A survey conducted by the company found that while Millennials are the first generation to really embrace mobile shopping, they – like their Gen X parents and Baby Boomer grandparents – still fall back on the trusty old… Read More
Categories: Advertising, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y / Millennials, Generations
U2 and THE Gap – Gen X Preferences
Posted On April 23, 2015
So Millennials don’t like the same things Gen Xers did? Say it isn’t so. This may come as a shock to twenty-somethings, but thirty- and forty-somethings didn’t like the same things as their parents either. That’s the way the world works. Time Magazine recently ticked off several former staples of a typical Generation X upbringing that turn off Millennials, from U2 and NBC sitcoms to Cameron Crowe movies and The Gap. Yes, yes I did use “The” in front of the name of that store you pass by on your way to Abercrombie & Fitch. Because that’s how we said… Read More
Categories: Generation X, Generation Y / Millennials
The dreams vs. reality of young entrepreneurism
Posted On February 10, 2015
With the near-extinction of “the company man” in today’s workforce, more and more workers dream of taking control of their own destiny. Generational research from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation indicates that half to two-thirds of Millennials are interested in entrepreneurship. Yet a recent study conducted by The Wall Street Journal shows only 3.6% of professionals under 30 own stock in a private company, down from 10.6% in 1989 and even 6.1% as recently as 2010. So why doesn’t desire equate to action? Where to begin… Money is certainly a key factor. With Millennials coming into the workforce at… Read More
Categories: Entrepreneurship, Generation Y / Millennials
Attracting Millennials: The location factor
Posted On February 3, 2015
According to a recent report by Cushman & Wakefield, attracting Millennials has a something in common with selling real estate: location, location, location. And more precisely, urban locations. As it turns out, Millennials are city dwellers and they are all about convenience, so if you want them to come to you, well, you may need to go to them. Why the big surge in city living? CW’s report cites surveys, including one that shows 62% of Millennials prefer mixed-use communities. Perhaps more important, Millennials have a tendency toward delayed adolescence (or adultolescence). As I’ve talked about here many times, the… Read More
Categories: Generation Y / Millennials, Workplace
Entitlement: Perhaps it’s not just for the kids
Posted On January 26, 2015
When considering the different generations in the workforce it is easy to slip into blame and pointing fingers: “Back in my day, we would never talk to our superiors like that” and “They are just so out of touch.” Some folks just like to simply deny the problem off the table: “Oh, the younger generations have always pushed limits, nothing to see here.” It’s not surprising that neither of these approaches helps attract, engage and retain a diverse workforce. But even as companies are looking at how to focus on the similarities between the generations (rather than complain about the… Read More
Categories: Generation Y / Millennials, Work, Workplace
South Carolina is bringing apprenticeship back
Posted On January 6, 2015
With the movement of manufacturing jobs overseas, America largely lost the master-apprentice model of skill development. College transitioned from liberal arts to business prep. With manufacturing making a comeback, the need for vocational skills is growing and the labor force is not keeping up. In 2007, South Carolina recognized this gap and implemented an apprenticeship program with 777 individuals across 90 companies. In 2014, there are more than 670 companies participating and the program has reached 11,000 workers. NPR recently reported on the success of the S.C. program. Part of succession planning is passing along institutional knowledge from one generation… Read More
Categories: Generation Y / Millennials, Training Industry, Work, Workplace