A recent article over at Forbes indicates that a full one third of the workforce will be composed of Millenials (sub-30 year olds) by 2014. These young professionals are not easily managed, it seems. And they always run businesses or ventures outside of work. The question left for the employer is
a) do you create a conflict with your millenial employees and restrict them from outside work or
b) do you as an employer learn about what they know (and you don't) and encourage these young innovators to share what they do with the organization?
The bring your own device (BYOD) or bring your own application (BYOA) movement in IT seems to mirror these perspectives, in that the younger generation needs their own device and applications in order to run these side businesses and projects outside of work. Inevitably there has to be a conflict of interest or time somewhere, and this management of time and interest will be critical to manage.
It's no wonder cloud computing is taking off — there is a segment of society that depends on the cloud to improve their quality of life, it seems. What are your thoughts?
