Workforce

In late 2006 and early 2007, a resurgence of articles began focused on the generation of workers entering the workforce after Generation X. This generation, born after 1980, has also been called other names including Generation Y, the Millennials, and Generation Next. As it has always been, organizations must continue to learn and adapt when generational changes take place in the work force. The next generation of workers now entering the organization promises to "rewrite" the rules for those of us in information technology.

"In today’s global economy, a company’s success or failure may hinge on the ability to implement technology to remain competitive. The business managers of tomorrow must be able to see the big picture while also understanding the nuts and bolts that keep everything running. The type of thinking that was once left to technologists is now essential for business managers."

C.J. Kelly, "Can a Manager Be a Techie and Survive?", Computerworld, November 20, 2006

C.J. Kelly is the alias for a security manager that wishes to hide her real name and employer in her articles for Computerworld.

Those in IT with any ambition to move up the ranks need to understand their organization's business better, obviously. What isn't acknowledged so readily by management is the need for managers to know IT better.