We may think we’ve got them all figured out, but new evidence constantly erupts everyday which proves that Millennials are, in fact, misunderstood.

In such a situation, have you ever wondered what impact this dynamic generation has been having on current working trends and practices?

Polling 700 business professionals and 1,010 teenagers and young adults, CompTIA listed ways on how generational issues are changing workforce dynamics today and into the future.

“Like the Baby Boomers and Gen Xers that preceded them, Millennials have strong preferences and priorities on what they think the workplace should look like,” said Seth Robinson, senior director, technology analysis, CompTIA.

“It will be interesting to see if these preferences become the norm as more Millennials enter senior leadership positions; or if Millennials change their views as they take on greater responsibilities to clients, communities, employees and shareholders.”

Here are three such ways how Millennials are changing the workplace:

1.Workplace flexibility

Younger workers who’ve grown up in an era where flexibility is the norm expect that to extend to their work arrangements.

Millennials want to work for companies that offer an option to telecommute, even if it means accepting a lower salary. Companies that don’t offer a telecommuting option are viewed as old fashioned.

2. Social media

Employees in their 20s and 30s are much more likely to use social media, such as Facebook, for work purposes – about three in 10 within each age group. By contrast, less than 20% of Baby Boomers use Facebook for work purposes and 25% do not use Facebook at all, for work or personal use.

The blurring of lines between work and personal lives – and the information being shared via social media channels – is cause for concern among businesses and acknowledged as a potential problem by employees.

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The majority of workers across all age groups (64%) believe that social media adversely impacts productivity at work.

“Organisations should seriously consider building a policy around social media to define proper behaviors and minimise the risk of sensitive data being shared,” Robinson said.

That may be tricky in the workplace of the future, however. Younger workers see a greater connection between social media and their work and feel that their social media skills are an important element of the skill set they bring to their jobs.

3. Tech status

Three-quarters of Millennials say a company’s technology usage is a factor in their employment decisions, compared to just over half of Baby Boomers.

When it comes to their comfort level and ability to use technology 70% of Millennials label themselves as “cutting edge” or “upper tier.” For Gen X workers, the corresponding figure is 55%, and for Baby Boomers, 30%.

Email remains the most prevalent form of workplace communications, but newer forms of communications such as Skype, text and instant messaging are claiming an increasingly bigger footprint, especially among workers under the age of 50.

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