Guess Who's Feeling Overwhelmed by Technology? Millennials

That's right — millennials. According to a recent survey on workplace productivity by Cornerstone OnDemand, the youngest generation in the workplace reports suffering more information and technology overload in the "always on" era than its older peers.

Our very own Jason Corsello spoke recently with Ladan Nikravan, editor at Chief Learning Officer, about the study's surprising findings.

Among Jason's insights:

Stereotypes don't always apply: "I think that most people have come to the conclusion that the digitally native millennial generation can handle technology — that they even love it and can’t live without it. Our survey results pushed back on this categorization. On the one hand, despite the fact that employees are awash in technology, they are demanding more and better devices and applications to do their jobs. On the other hand, Gen Y workers, whom we have largely pigeonholed as having an insatiable appetite for technology, are expressing both a desire for more human, face-to-face interaction and frustration with information and technology overload."

It's not the device that matters — it's the app: "Employees do want BYOD, but at the end of the day I think it is less about the device and more about the right apps to help them get their work done. I think it’s more about the apps that employees are choosing to use. Our survey found that 37 percent of employees who currently use apps for work would be likely to spend their own money on work-related apps in the next 12 months if they felt the app would help them with their job. Even among employees who do not currently use apps for work, 20 percent expected to spend their own money for apps to increase their productivity."

Millennials are hungry for training and development: "To my mind, employers have been a little slow to provide their people with the right resources for learning and performing in the new world of work. But this shortcoming should most certainly be seen as an opportunity: employees are hungry for context-sensitive training that is available when they need it to be most productive in their jobs. In many cases, they may not necessarily define the type of informal, just-in-time, just-enough learning opportunities they crave as training or development, yet this is the new age of blended learning."

Read more at Chief Learning Officer.

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