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INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS

Smart Buildings Crossing Generational Lines

Pook-Ping Yao
CEO
Optigo Networks

uilding automation is a fast-aging industry. It’s composed began recruiting the younger generation to revamp the compa-
of workers who cut their teeth before buildings first ny. Millennials have kept us competitive.”
Bbecame ‘smart’; people who can navigate a building’s net- Millennials offer an incredible proficiency with technology;
work and diagnose problems in minutes; tremendously knowl- they take to smart building technology and the Internet of
edgeable individuals who will be retiring in the next 10-20 years. Things (IoT) remarkably quickly. They also tend to be more for-
Baby Boomers have invaluable expertise that drives every ward-thinking in technology compared with older generations.
industry forward, but they leave no room for the young profes- One study from Vision Critical found, “Within the IoT, [Millennial]
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sionals who are bound to replace them. To be competitive in IT pros are focused on robotics, sensors, and wearable comput-
business, you need innovative minds. How will Generation Y fill ing—none of which are on the minds of traditional older IT pros.”
the gaps left behind when the time comes, if they aren’t getting The disparity between generations is growing even more, as we
experience now? see young, iGen kids’ tremendous aptitude; it’s almost intuitive,
Millennials (born between 1982-2000) are the largest gener- how naturally they navigate technology.
ation in the U.S. labor force. This means employers must adapt Younger employees’ aptitudes and attitudes are not surprising.
quickly to recruit young professionals. According to PWC , We’re in an age of data, open-source code, and mobile-every-
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Millennials will compose 50% of the workforce worldwide within thing. “There’s an app for that” is more apt now than it was when
three years. One day soon, a burst of Boomers will retire and Apple registered a trademark for the slogan almost ten years
generations Y and X (born between 1965-81) will step in. ago. How could Millennials and younger generations not have
absorbed that culture of innovation throughout their childhood
Window of a chance and adolescence?
This is a looming problem that will only get worse without plan-
ning. If companies don’t hire young professionals now—before Arrested development
their workforce retires—Millennials won’t get career experience. In the next five to ten years, as Baby Boomers retire, companies
Then there will be a scramble to acclimate that could put the will see a mass exodus of employees. If these companies do not
industry in arrested development. act now, they may not have competent, experienced staff to step
in. There will be a difficult period of transition, with a significant
gap in know-how between those retiring and those newly hired.
A host of inexperienced young professionals will not be qualified
to guide the industry. With mentorship and training, that learning
curve can be lessened; without it, we risk a period of arrested
development.
More than a company best practice, hiring Millennials is an
industry necessity. If we do not advance today, industry outsid-
ers will disrupt this sphere. Businesses like Apple and Google
are growing empires, with fresh young talent aplenty. These
companies will take over the industry, and they will face little
resistance doing so.
That shouldn’t be possible. There is a complexity to intelli-
gent building technologies that is not easily translated from
Young talent is a priority at Servi-Tech Controls, a leading other sectors. The value proposition is different; the reasons for
building automation and HVAC mechanical services company in developing the technology are different; the scale, responsibili-
California. From 2009-2013, company president, Glenn Johnson ties, and security concerns are different. Still, if the current smart
used the recession as a catalyst for change. “We refined our focus, building industry does not advance soon, it will open a door.
hiring young professionals with less experience in the field,” It will provide an opportunity for companies driven by young
he said. “Before the recession, the industry preferred engineers minds to enter the industry. If they do, those companies can
who were proven. Instead of continuing with the status quo, we annihilate the industry overnight.

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