Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) can help you deliver on the vision of the future of work. What do you picture? What makes up the story of the future for the American workforce? What impact will Millennials have on it? Delving into these questions will show why UCaaS is part of the answer. The following statistics come from Dell’s Future Workforce Study, published in 2016.
Millennials are changing the workplace
Millennials view their jobs differently, considering work less important as a definition of who they are, but placing importance on workplace technology. When asked if “work is life,” 48% of Baby Boomers agreed with the statement, but only 27% of Millennials did. Additionally, only 45% said they consider work a part of their core identity, compared to 63% of Baby Boomers. Millennials identify more with what they do outside of the office, but are still needed to be part of the workforce. How can a business recruit them? With technology!
Two specific areas showed Millennials’ expectations for a workplace with the best technology: first, about half of them (42%) said they’d quit if workplace tech wasn’t good enough, and 81% said the technology at a job influenced their decision to accept an offer.
Communication technology makes an impact
The majority (55%) of Americans still choose face-to-face communication over other methods, but Millennials predict that will change, with 62% of them expecting remote teams and communications technology making f2f chatting obsolete. Almost a quarter of them say they’ll be “working in a ‘smart’ office” within five years. What businesses are currently delivering this or are on track to bring this technology to light?
Remote work will continue to grow
Millennials don’t look for, or expect, to work in a traditional workplace. When asked where they do their best work, 29% said it’s outside of the office, whether that’s working from home, in a public location, or even outside. They don’t worry so much about creating or maintaining coworker relationships either, with only 20% of them feeling that’s important.
What does it all mean?
Millennials have a different view of work. They picture it as something they do to pay the bills. Rather than employment being a part of their identity, their “life begins at the end of the work day.” These sentiments equate to Millennial employees who will leave jobs more easily. So what matters to them? They place a high premium on the tech they use at work, with this one defining factor determining whether they quit a job or whether they accept a new opportunity. Communication technology is part of this sentimental shift and businesses that are providing leading technology will attract the best job candidates.
UCaaS makes businesses more successful
Millennials are less committed to the office, want the latest tech, and look for the flexibility to work remotely. UCaaS is communication in the cloud. It supports running a business from anywhere, anytime. It shifts communications from an in-house supported and purchased solution to a vendor provided subscription. Hiring an IT staff and purchasing infrastructure fades away and cloud service providers step in instead. The right UCaaS solution provides businesses with an entire umbrella of communication services: text messaging, VoIP, PBX, mobile, video conferencing, instant messaging, email, voicemail, online fax, even presence information. For a remote team, knowing when teammates are online or offline means knowing when you can communicate.
If you haven’t implemented UCaaS for your business yet and you’re wondering if you should look into it, the answer is an absolute yes. As the workforce shifts and Baby Boomers retire, your business will fall behind if you aren’t working with the right technology. With UCaaS, you provide that technology, giving your employees greater mobility, improved collaboration tools, better productivity, even better customer relationships. How can we help you get set up today?