Millennials have been called every word possible across a myriad of publications.  By now everybody has had their fair share of blogging about this generation- which has been dubbed as lazy, self-entitled and self-obsessed. Early on, there was much speculation about what would define the values of the population born between 1982 and 2000—would they be a generation focused on larger social issues? Or, would their attention be heavily focused on themselves?

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     The verdict has been out for quite some time now thanks to sources like the Monitoring the Future survey, which has been studying the behaviors, attitudes and beliefs of young Americans since 1975. The 2006 book, Generation Me, by Dr. Jean M. Twenge, dug into all of the available data and determined that Millennials are certainly more individualistic than any generation before their time. This new populace has a higher sense of self-esteem, self-importance and assertiveness than ever before.

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     As employers, we have been thoroughly warned about the dangers of millennial self-entitlement, and possibly have even signed up for one of those seminars on managing the narcissistic tendencies of this generation. We were warned that this wave of youth lacks work ethic, and that they’re inefficient and generally careless. I, however, want to ask those in the technology sector, has this really been your experience with the young operatives on your team?

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     In my opinion, the growth in our market is largely due to a generational leap that was previously out of our reach. Instead of needing to complete a checklist of requirements before entering into a professional field, young people now arrive at the gates of our industry in a number of alternative ways—and their contribution has been astounding! You don’t have to look any further than Silicon Valley to witness the incredible hustle of CEOs and lead developers that are barely above the legal drinking age (I’m kidding, the founder of Dropbox finally turned 30 this year).

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     Clearly there’s a side to self-entitlement that we’ve often missed in our discussions of this generation. What exactly do these millennials feel they’re entitled to anyway? Based on the tremendous amount of innovation and financial growth in our industry, I think the answer is clear —millennials are the entrepreneurial generation.

Self-entitlement is the realization of self-value, and their ambition to constantly disrupt and hack the traditional model speaks for itself. They’re certainly not settling for the usual 9 to 5 corporate monotony. Of course there are slackers and fakers in every group, but let’s not allow this to distract us from the larger theme of young people pushing themselves to new heights.

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     Looking at the surge in youth that dominates companies like Apple and Microsoft, it’s clear we’re all trying to take advantage of the gifts that this generation offers. Entrepreneur Magazine hit the nail on the head with an article a few years back titled, Why Millennials are Immature, Entitled and the Best Hire - which accurately outlines their appetite for success and innovation.

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     How can we as employers learn not to suffocate, but instead harvest this wonderful ambition and energy? For us at Wirestorm, it’s about creating an atmosphere where this craving for independence and innovation thrives. According to a 2014 study surveying millennial career values, 77% of young adults attribute their boost in productivity to flexible work hours—so putting them in a cubicle from 9 to 5 won’t necessarily yield the best results. The Wirestorm team enjoys flexibility in their schedule and location, where results are the main point of

employee assessment. Flexibility in our schedules allows for personal development, time with friends and family, and a general space for stress free creativity to breathe.

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     Nurturing our creativity is one of our top priorities and we are lucky to have attracted stellar millennial talent to help push us to do so. We love hiring millennials because this generation doesn’t just want a job, they want to make a difference—and the nature of our work supports our commitment to creating with purpose.