IT Management Slideshow:
Gen Y Workers: What You Don't Know Can Hurt You

Admit it: You may harbor some prejudices about Gen Y workers (b. 1980-2000) in your organization. Perhaps you perceive the so-called Millennial generation as a group of entitled upstarts with a superiority complex when it comes to command of technology. You might think that they’re too quick to dismiss input from your IT people. You could maintain reservations about their eagerness to use whatever personal tech tools they like for work – regardless of that technology’s impact on the overall enterprise. If this is the case, then allow a new survey from Forrester to shred certain, commonly accepted “givens” about Gen Y employees. The report, "What Gen Y Really Thinks About Your IT Department," reveals that these workers no longer can be collectively categorized as rookies. By now, many have compiled years of valuable and influential experience. They actually admire their company’s IT teams, and are generally satisfied with the technology provided to them. That said, Gen Y workers still want to make impact on corporate tech-buying decisions. And that may not be such a bad idea, according to T.J. Keitt, the report’s lead author. “Gen Yers are now entrenched in the business — almost a third hold a manager or executive role,” he says. “This means it’s time to stop looking at them as precocious know-it-alls, since their opinions on technology are based on experience, not youthful exuberance.” More than 5,500 Millennial-generation global tech end-users took part in the survey featured in Forrester's report. Here are the highlights: