Do generations work differently?
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Millennial workers are highly invested in workplace technology
Millennial workers are significantly less satisfied with technology at work
The right technology helps all workers do their best work
Work is a human endeavor
Millennials, Gen Xers, and work pre-COVID-19
Our research surfaced four themes regarding how different generations value and view technology in the workplace. As we head into the end of a historic year and look forward to a new year—and new research—let’s look back to get perspective.
THEME #1
Millennials are highly invested in workplace technology.
A majority of Millennials (60%) say they want more input on tech they use at work—versus 44% of Gen Xers.
Millennials are more likely to apply for jobs if the company has a reputation for great technology. The gap ranged from 9 points in Germany to a 20-point difference in the Netherlands.
Millennials rely on tech 10% more than Gen Xers to solve workplace challenges.
THEME #2
Next-generation leaders expect more from workplace tech.
More than a third of managers, directors, and executives have turned down a job because the technology was out of date or hard to use. Millennial leaders are between 6% and 18% more likely than Gen Xers to turn down jobs because of bad tech.
Over a quarter of Millennial workers say they had already quit a job because workplace technology made their job harder.
Impacting the bottom line.
Dissatisfaction with technology hurts engagement and performance across all generations. According to the study, the top impacts of outdated tech on employees include:
Less productivity
More stress
Lower capacity to take on more work
THEME #3
The right technology helps all workers do their best work.
A large majority of workers across all age groups—83%—say having the right tech improves productivity.
Nearly three-quarters of workers across all generations and countries said technology was important in supporting collaboration.
THEME #4
Work is a human endeavor.
Employees care about each other, and their work.
“Caring” ranked first as the most appealing cultural value.
of Millennial workers say collaborating across many teams is critical to them staying at a job.
of Gen X workers say being able to do their best work is as important as pay.
Conclusion
Why the State of Work Matters
To that end, Workfront will focus our 2021 State of Work research on identifying how the pandemic has changed knowledge workers’ perspectives, and identify factors that haven’t changed. Register to receive the report when it’s available early next year.
Past Reports
State of Work 2020
From a front-row seat, we’ve observed four fundamental attributes shared by teams and corporations that consistently outpace their rivals, year after year. In order to further understand how companies can improve their performance, we regularly study the state of work through the lens of knowledge workers. Download 2020 the report to learn about what helps and what hinders both employee and organizational success.
State of Work 2019
Every year we survey thousands of enterprise workers with the goal of gaining a deeper understanding of how their work is changing. We look at the roles of technology, changes in demographics and emerging trends play in the state of the modern workplace. Click below to see the results of our 2019 survey.
State of Work 2018
This report finds knowledge workers continuing to be thwarted by tools and practices that are intended to facilitate productivity and collaboration. Again this year, wasteful meetings and excessive emails top the list of productivity killers, forcing workers to spend less than half of their time on the work they were actually hired to do.
State of Work 2017
In this report, you'll find that while the vast majority of workers express an optimistic view of their work life, troubling trends in the number of hours spent at work and the prevalence of inter-team conflict have arisen—both of which threaten to undermine enterprises’ efforts to be more productive and, ultimately, more competitive.
State of Work 2016
In this report, you'll find those office workers consider themselves productive, but they also work regularly beyond standard business hours. You’ll also find snapshots of their perceptions of each other and the things that keep them from being more productive.
2015 State of Work
In this study, you will find that enterprise workers report a good deal of ambivalence. On one hand, they express optimism about their work and work relationships. On the other hand, they report strong frustration with shortcomings in processes and communication.
Methodology
We surveyed 5,798 respondents between the ages of 23 and 55, across Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. All participants were employed full-time or part-time, collaborate with others and work on a computer as part of their job, and work at companies with at least 500 employees. The sample was weighted for age, region, gender, and ethnicity, and conducted online between February 13, 2020, and March 6, 2020.