Ys Just Wanna Have Fun (and Flexibility)

If today's workplace had an anthem, it might very well be the British indie duo Ting Tings' new song with its refrain "Clap your hands if you're working too hard." Workplaces are more demanding than ever in terms of hours and performance. Americans are putting in more hours per week than previous years. That's creating a rising tide of resentment among the 70 million Gen Ys flooding into the workforce.

Gen Ys know what they want — and it's not the all-work-and-no-life dynamic of their Boomer parents. "We have watched our parents waste away in drab cubicles and count the days to retirement," Gen Y writer Courtney Martin explained in a Christian Science Monitor op-ed. "Call me idealistic but isn't work supposed to be part of life? Do I have to accept the idea that 'real life' begins when I punch out at 8 p.m. each day?"

Gen Ys want a rewards remix, according to "Bookend Generations," a study from the Center for Work-Life Policy. Instead of the traditional plums of prestigious title, powerful position, and concomitant compensation, they value challenging and diverse job opportunities, stimulating colleagues, a well-designed communal workspace, and flexible work options, with 89% of Ys saying flexible work options are important consideration in choosing an employer. "Millenials view work-life balance as their right," observes Ron Alsop in The Trophy Kids Grow Up. To obtain that balance, they are becoming "agents of change, pushing flexibility to the top of the workplace agenda."

They don't mind putting in long hours so long as they can choose those hours, another study of Gen Y workers noted. As one woman surveyed snapped, "Why do they care if I'm four minutes late to work if I'm the top performer in my department?"
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http://blogs.hbr.org/hbr/hewlett/2011/06/ys_just_wanna_have_fun_--_and.html