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BUSINESS NEWS JACOBS WINS CONTRACT EXTENSION FOR TRANSPERTH ROUTE INFORMATION SYSTEM IN AUSTRALIA Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. announced it received a five-year contract extension from the Western Australia Public Transport Authority to provide support services for the Transperth Route Information System.

Transperth provides the Perth metropolitan region with bus, train and ferry public transport services. Jacobs has provided support services for PTA’s TRIS for 15 years, including design, implementation, and ongoing management. The system was originally developed to

manage bus contracts, but its modular design and flexibility led to it becoming an enterprise solution for the organization. It now helps the PTA manage public transport contracts, bus stop maintenance, customer feedback, lost/ seized property, land management, asset management, and much more.

CHRISTINA ZWEIG, from page 5

and want to know “why” processes exist. One of my first “real” jobs was working as an assistant to a real estate broker. I worked on a commission basis, where my salary was 6 per- cent of the broker’s commissions. After a few short months, I became frustrated when I realized my salary was impacted by some of the inefficiencies of my boss. She didn’t understand how to use the feedback tool on the scheduling software we used. Clients were always calling wanting feedback on how their house showings went and I wasn’t allowed to download the app and automate things from my phone. Unnecessary processes took up most of my day – endless printing, sta- pling, and filing papers that were already stored online on a secure server. I failed to see the reasons behind many of the job tasks that took up my day, and they were indisputable and never explained to me. Millennials see technology as a friend, not a foe. If something isn’t working right, we want to learn how to make it work bet- ter. We see new technology as an inherent and valuable part of work. We recognize that we will be consistently learning how to use new programs, software, applications, and tools throughout our entire lives. 3)Millennials want to feel that their work matters and is doing good for the world. Shortly after college, when no jobs were to be found locally, I moved to Minnesota and worked as a director of horseback riding at two camps. Sounds like a great job giving back to children and society, right? I couldn’t have been more wrong. Each camp was heav- ily concerned with turning a profit. That meant if they could get 75 people to sign up to go on trail rides in one day, all 75 had to get a two-hour trail ride – even though this schedule meant the horses had to work all day long without a break. I finished my summer term at the camp, but vowed never to return because I felt the job was unethical and inhumane. “Many older millennials have lived through a time when jobs were very difficult to come by, and also witnessed their parents and authority figures lose their jobs despite being intelligent, hardworking, and loyal employees.” You don’t need to have monthly charity drives to keep millen- nials engaged, but if you don’t work on projects that can be seen as beneficial to society in some way, you’re going to have a hard time keeping millennials engaged at your firm. Millennials may be seen as selfish and disloyal – but they aren’t all bad. What do you have to say about working with millennials? We want to know. CHRISTINA ZWEIG is Zweig Group’s director of marketing. Contact her at christinaz@zweiggroup.com.

10 percent where they are not); a high level of cross-team collaboration (30 percent versus 12 percent where there is not); and feeling in control of his or her career. “You don’t need to have monthly charity drives to keep millennials engaged, but if you don’t work on projects that can be seen as beneficial to society in some way, you’re going to have a hard time keeping millennials engaged at your firm.” The challenge of working with and retaining the millennial generation is real. Fellow millennial (although we prefer to call ourselves Generation Y) Jamie Claire Kiser and I led a breakout discussion on “Work-Life Balance and Millennials in the Workplace.” The discussion revealed that many firm leaders in the A/E industry are asking similar questions: How can this generation be motivated to work? Stay at the same company? Put in extra effort? Communicate effectively with colleagues? Just pick up the phone? After a relatively disturbing summer supervising a crew of millennial interns, I am one of the last to jump to the defense of an entire generation, but I think a perspective of a real millennial who is working and deeply invested in her career might help other people struggling with this generation. Keep in mind the following: 1)Older millennials have not had the same experience with the economy and employment as younger millennials. When I graduated in the winter of 2008, a semester early with a 3.8 GPA and a B.A. in English, there was not a job to be had anywhere. I sold my $400 junk motorcycle because I didn’t have enough money in my account to afford a take-out pizza. I had just spent more than 15 years of my life sitting in classrooms and meetings, studying, playing by the rules, and now I would be lucky to get a job in a restaurant. With only a liberal arts bachelor’s degree, I was grossly underqualified for almost any kind of professional employment. The gas station attendant at the Valero down the street had a master’s degree. Many older millennials have lived through a time when jobs were very difficult to come by, and also witnessed their par- ents and authority figures lose their jobs despite being intel- ligent, hardworking, and loyal employees. This experience changed the way many millennials view work, the concept of sacrifice, as well as employer loyalty. 2)Millennials value efficiency, the proper use of technology,

THE ZWEIG LETTER November 28, 2016, ISSUE 1177

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