Rise of the millennials: how they will impact the cyber workforce

Abstract

Millennials are already a majority within the US military and will one day rise to its senior ranks. Until then, senior leaders across the services, most of whom are “Gen X,” must successfully adapt to the influx of a generation that often shares a different set of values and approaches to the workplace. This article examines the challenges facing Gen X military leaders as they seek to build a cyber workforce that relies heavily on the first “digital native” generation. It also offers a number of suggestions for effectively managing millennials across the generation gap.

Keywords:

• millennials
• cyber forces
• challenges in recruitment to the American military services

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Adam B. Lowther

Dr Adam B. Lowther (BA, Arizona State University; MA, Arizona State University; PhD, University of Alabama) is a Research Professor at the Air Force Research Institute (AFRI), Maxwell AFB, AL. His principal research interests include deterrence, nuclear weapons policy, and terrorism. He is the editor of Terrorism’s Unanswered Questions and the author of Americans and Asymmetric Conflict: Lebanon, Somalia, and Afghanistan. He has published in the New York Times, Boston Globe, Joint Forces Quarterly, Strategic Studies Quarterly and elsewhere. Prior to joining AFRI, he was an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Arkansas Tech University and Columbus State University, where he taught courses in international relations, political economy, security studies, and comparative politics.