Millennials' casual approach to work can backfire in risky ways that managers also need to consider, however. According to a February 2008 study by security systems provider Symantec Corp., when asked whether they feel entitled to use whatever application, device or technology they like, regardless of source or corporate IT policies, 69 percent of millennials said yes while only 31 percent of other workers did.
Millennials and boomers may have to agree to disagree about what it means to be an IT professional today. But for IT managers, the trick is to weigh what each generation brings to the table and match the individual to the job. And that's a skill that they need to develop quickly.
"The pressure on front-line managers nowadays with the millennials coming into the workforce is greater than it's ever been," says Lisa Orrell, a generational relations expert and author of Millennials Incorporated (Wyatt-MacKenzie, 2008). And, she warns, "the competition is only going to get more fierce as time goes on."