Millennials value their own workstation, short commute and flexible remote work opportunities in their work

According to the Next Generation Work study commissioned by YIT, work has suffered the least from all aspects of life. To the extent that, on average, respondents feel they have given more to the job than they would have liked.

What do millennials expect from working life? What is the significance of the work community, personal development or office for them? To explore these themes, YIT commissioned a study with the international The NextGen Project in March-April, in which 1,100 respondents took part in the online survey. The respondents were aged 20–40, and more than half of them were Finnish, the rest from elsewhere in Scandinavia and the Baltics.

The study sought answers to three key themes: the values of millennials and the relevance of work, issues related to the work community and personal development, and concrete expectations set for work.

The most important concrete things that young people value in their work are their own workstation, a short commute and flexible teleworking opportunities. Despite the desire for flexibility in terms of working hours and places of work, many people are under a great deal of pressure in their work, and here their own workstation can be a source of a sense of security and stability.

Hybrid work is daily routine, the office distinguishes work from leisure

The hybrid way of working is here to stay. Young people hoped to work 60% of their working time remotely. Around 8.5% said they only want to work remotely and 3% in the office alone. More than 40% of millennials would prefer a four-day working week. Flexibility in choosing between teleworking and office work is an important way of achieving a balance between work and other aspects of life.

A physical office has its own important advantages, but it doesn't have to mean that there would only be one particular office. The material showed that those who rooted for office work were not necessarily older. Important predictive variables were the level of training of respondents and how they saw themselves working during normal office hours after five years. The office is also seen as a kind of security mechanism that distinguishes work and leisure — as we know, this is one of the biggest problems faced by information workers.

The work community influences the experience of the significance of work

The work community and colleagues are important to respondents in many ways. Working together and learning from a more experienced colleague play an important role. A strong sense of community engages existing employees and helps to attract new ones. A good work community strengthens the sense of belonging and relevance. It can become an important part of an individual's personal growth story, and an open dialogue in the work community helps to strengthen the understanding of the ultimate purpose of one's own work.

Corporate ethics and accountability are important issues for millennials. However, in the light of the study, the basics of work must be in order before ethics and accountability matter. Wages, flexible working hours and like-minded colleagues are the three most important things that millennials want from a new job.

Download the Next Generation Work research report: https://www.yit.fi/en/nextgenerationwork

Further information:
Anders Stenbäck, VP, Offering and Services development unit, Partnership Properties segment, YIT Finland Ltd, tel. +358 (0)50 548 2234, anders.stenback@yit.fi
Heidi Kauppinen, Communications Manager, YIT Corporation, tel. +358 (0)40 574 3170, heidi.kauppinen@yit.fi