It’s Official: Millennials Are Now the Largest Part of the U.S. Workforce
January 18, 2016
According to a recent Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau figures, Gen Y has officially edged out Gen X in 2015 to nab the largest share of the workforce, making up 35 percent of all U.S. workers with Gen X, Baby Boomers, and Traditionalists trailing at 34, 29, and 2 percent, respectively.
Currently 1 in 3 American workers are Millennial-aged, and as the Boomer Exodus continues, they will inexorably become the most dominant segment of workers.
Most recently Gen X held that honor, peaking at 84 percent of the labor force in 2008.
No longer outliers
Much ink has been spilt over Gen Y’s motivations, ambitions, character, and of course, how to engage them. By now a large body of research has been collected, and we are seeing with our own eyes how Millennials are working, adapting, and changing the business landscape.
They are no longer outliers; they are “large and in-charge,” and they are setting the bar for how companies relate to their employees.