They are the least religious, the most technologically savvy and the best-educated citizens in America’s history. They are the millennial generation — or so a Pew Research Center study that’s recently been in the news seems to indicate.
As the generation of 18- to 29-year-olds continues to grow, its dependence on social media continues to affect the workforce, according to the study, titled “Millennials: A Portrait of Generation Next.”
When asked what makes their generation unique, millennial respondents’ top answers were technology use, and music and pop culture.
Millennials’ use of technology can make their work ethic look different, said Edmund Kellerman, a UF organizational communications professor.
“In our generation, if business was slow, you’d go and do something to improve the store. But these days, you have to go and check that phone first,” Kellerman said.
Technology is increasingly taking the place of face-to-face communication, a term called the interpersonal divide, said Diana Nagy, a communications studies professor at UF.
There may be valid reason for the heavy technology use among millennials, though.
“One of the things we know about millennials is that they are the most stressed-out generation ever,” Nagy said.
Iesha Storr, a 20-year-old first-year law student at the UF Levin College of Law, said she agrees.
“Whenever I’m studying for a few hours, I always take a break every now and then and check Facebook,” Storr said. “It reminds me that there’s life outside of my books.”
A version of this story ran on page 1 on 10/3/2013 under the headline "Millennials, technology changing face of work ethic, study says"
