Want to attract and retain Gen Y? Better rethink everything

I'm going to take the unpopular option and say that no, business doesn't have to re-think everything because of gen-y.

This generation of young know-it-alls has had the fortunate experience of never having to understand what life is like in an economic downturn. That's clearly evident in most of the y'ers I meet everyday (I'm "x" myself). This is about to change in a big way. Because of that, the days of having companies begging for you to come work for them are soon going to be a thing of the past, at least temporarily.

That, coupled with the natural process of maturity, will give enough of a dose of reality to gen-y'ers that at least some of them will start to reduce the level of demands they would make on corporations.

Some things are changing, like companies allowing for flex-hours, but that has little if anything to do with gen y exclusively.