5 keys to understanding millennials

Making sense of millennial will be crucial for businesses and cities like Hamilton, an economic development conference heard on Thursday, but how do you do it?

Max Valiquette, a marketer with Bensimon Byrne who has built his career on understanding trends among young people, took a shot at it during the final keynote presentation of this years Economic Developers Council of Ontario conference, held in Hamilton.

• Millennials have more spending power than parents did but also more debt

• 5 ways millennials' tech habits differ from older generations

Valiquettes speech touched on everything from demographics to puberty to technology with the simple goal of helping those in the audience simply understand young people. Here are 5 ideas he put forward:

Millennials have tremendous power

Valiquette calls them Generation W; a huge demographic group aged 15-34 that drive most of todays trends.

For proof, Valiquette asked the audience which skewed largely older when was the first time they sent a text message. Many admitted it was with their children.

Millenials have since pushed forward with more and more technology since then, and almost everyone else has been along for the ride.

And, due to a large age range that share similar values, Valiquette said millenials are "probably the most powerful group of young people we've ever had."

Take that, boomers.

Millennials are worried

But despite that power, youth are staring at some bleak employment numbers among their peers, Valiquette said, citing an Ontario jobless rate of 17 per cent.

"The threat of potential joblessness hangs over the head of every Canadian," he said.

To complicate that further, youth are incurring more debt than ever while attaining post-secondary degrees and often not seeing a return on their investment something theyre obviously worried about, Valiquette said.

Many are now "fundamentally thinking about the employment they want," instead of thinking about what theyd like to study, Valiquette said.

Though Valiquette didnt get into it, a shift away from post-secondary would have a major effect in a city like Hamilton where McMaster University has some 30,000 students.

Focus on 'new careerists'

Valiquette urged those in the audience who are hiring to focus on the older end of the millennial demographic, a group he described as being closer to making big life decisions like getting married and having kids.

He calls them "new careerists," and said this group can make ideal employees.

And, these youth may be a good group to target for Hamilton.

Though he didnt often directly speak about the host city, Valiquette said Hamilton has done a good job on bringing young people here to live, but theres room to grow when it comes to the number working in Hamilton.

Get digital, social and mobile

If you want to appeal to young people, Valiquette told the audience, you have to find something in common with them. And that means being online and being on their smartphones, he said.

"Everything revolves around the phone,"he said.

"Everything happens here."

Valiquette said 94 per cent of youth are online every day, while 92 per cent are using mobile devices. During that time, theyre often connecting with wide social networks via the well-known apps like Facebook and Twitter, but also smaller, rapidly growing ones like Instagram, Snapchat and, yes, Tinder.

If youre a millennial, you likely rolled your eyes at that last sentence. But if youre in the business of marketing to youth and dont know those apps, Valiquette said, you need to figure them out.

Millennials respond to positive messaging

Valiquettes key takeaway was that if youre trying to recruit youth, you need to "get positive."

"Present jobs in the most positive light possible,"he said, adding "your hiring practices begin long before you're actually hiring someone."

Millenials despite frequently being criticized by older employers bring many skills to the table including, more than ever, entrepreneurial mindsets, Valiquette said.

Yes, Valiquette said, you may need to set clear expectations of workplace behaviour with younger employees, but they bring plenty of ambition that can be capitalized on.