Millennials (Generation Y)

Who are millennials?

Millennials, also known as Generation Y, are people born roughly between 1981 and 1996. These are the boundaries used by Pew Research Center, and they are the ones most often cited in research. Millennials come after Generation X and before Generation Z (Gen Z). The name reflects the fact that they came of age around the turn of the millennium.

The exact birth years depend on the source. William Strauss and Neil Howe, the authors of generational theory, place millennials between 1982 and 2004, while Deloitte's annual Gen Z and Millennial Survey covers people born between 1983 and 1994. That is why millennials are often split into two groups: older millennials, who remember the world before mobile internet, and younger millennials, who grew up alongside social media.

Generations by birth year: table

Generation boundaries as defined by Pew Research Center. The boundaries for Generation Alpha are not settled yet, so its start year is approximate.

Why Generation Y is called millennials

The term “millennials” first appeared in 1991 in William Strauss and Neil Howe's book “Generations”. They proposed it as a more optimistic name that highlighted how this generation would reach adulthood in the new millennium. The label “Generation Y” was used by Advertising Age in 1993 to describe the young people who followed Generation X. Over time, “millennials” replaced “Generation Y”, and in a 2012 article Matt Carmichael noted that “Generation Y” had been a placeholder name until more was known about the cohort.

Other names for Generation Y

• Based on technology: digital natives, the Internet Generation, the Google Generation, the Net Generation, screenagers.
• Based on attitudes: Generation Me, the Selfie Generation, Generation Next.
• Based on their parents: echo boomers, since many millennials are the children of baby boomers.

Millennials in today's workforce

Many older millennials entered the job market during or shortly after the 2008 global financial crisis, while the youngest grew up with smartphones and social media. As a result, most millennials treat digital tools at work as the norm rather than an innovation.

Characteristics of Generation Y

• One of the largest generations. In the US, millennials have overtaken baby boomers to become the largest adult generation.
• Better educated than their parents. Millennials are more likely to hold a university degree than previous generations at the same age, and more women than men graduate from university.
• Starting families later. Millennials are less likely to be married than older generations were at their age, and women in this generation have their first child later. For example, almost 80% of Scots aged 16 to 34 have never been married.
• Digital from a young age. In 2019, 93% of millennials owned a smartphone and 86% used social media.
• Engaged with social issues. Among US social media users, 40% of millennials engaged with content about climate change, compared with 27% of Generation X and 21% of older generations.

How to work with millennials

According to the Deloitte Gen Z and Millennial Survey 2025 (more than 23,000 respondents in 44 countries), 48% of millennials want their manager to teach and mentor them, but only 32% say this actually happens. And 46% do not feel financially secure. Here is what HR teams and managers should focus on:

• Development and mentoring. Regular one-on-one meetings, an individual development plan and clear career growth answer millennials' main request to their manager.
• Continuous feedback and recognition. Millennials respond better to continuous feedback than to a single annual rating, and public recognition (kudos) boosts their engagement.
• Flexibility. Flexible working hours, remote work and clear leave rules motivate millennials to work effectively.
• Purpose and values. Millennials value the social impact of their work and want a say in company culture. Reverse mentoring gives them that: millennials share their digital skills, and more experienced colleagues share their knowledge of the organization.
• Modern tools. Millennials' digital skills shine where routine HR processes are automated and requests and documents don't need to be signed on paper.

In PeopleForce, the Perform module supports these practices with one-on-one meetings with agendas, feedback and kudos. The Pulse module helps you measure engagement regularly through pulse surveys and eNPS.