As electronic technology has evolved over the past 40 years, each successive generation has become more dependent on it in their daily lives. Matures grew up with telephone operators who placed their calls, for instance. The Baby Boomers grew up with dial telephones. Xers grew up with cordless phones and Millennials are growing with wireless communications.
The big difference in adaptation seems to be the level of immersion and dependence for each generation. The Matures and Boomers came of age in an era when most chores in everyday life were done manually. They, of course, strived to invent new technology that would provide both efficiency and convenience. Generation X and the Millennials both adapted to these technologies as children and improved them over time.
But technology is a mixed blessing. While we are now able to produce letters in half the time, we’re also finding that many young people have failed to learn proper grammar and composition. So while electronic technology has improved workplace efficiency for some tasks, it has negated efficiency for others. There’s nothing wrong with technology itself. We just have to understand the dependence it creates in young people and the impact of this dependence in the workplace.