A little known fact. The number of college freshmen majoring in Computer Science has fallen by 70% since 2000, according to the Computing Research Association. Why? *They are watching companies farm out  and outsource projects oveseas*They are afraid of another dot com bust*They are more concerned with balancing their life better than the boomers and the X-man and X-women before them*They can teach themselves ‘the tricks of the trade’ – how to do web development on their own… something most traditional Comp Sci programs don’t teach

*They no longer think IT or Computer Sci classes are cool…So what do they do?

*They stay away from jobs that might attract 40+ hours in the office… We all know that IT departments in mid and large size companies work their you-know-whats off.

In chapter 3 of Millennial Leaders, we talked to Dr. Rebecca Ryan of Next Generation Consulting about what it takes for a city to be “cool enough” for Gen Y to want to live there.

Ryan and her colleagues have developed this amazing handprinting system.  They interviewed thousands of Gen Y young adults, and the results of the interviews revealed seven key indices that prove to make cities “cool” for Generation Y. Cities included in the study are: Nashville, Milwaukee, Oswego County (NY), Birmingham, Charlotte, Tulsa, Brevard County (FL), Iowa, Vermont, Canton (OH), Akron, and the Illinois-Quad Cities. The seven indices are:

1) Vitality. This is the community’s commitment to the environment.

2) Earning index. Does the city have a breadth of occupational options.

3) Learning index. Great K-12 education and options for contuning ed are a must.

4) After hours index. How much is there to do after 5:00 p.m.?

5) Around town index. How easy is it to get around town and “stroll” from one place to the next without having to drive from location to location?

6) Cost of lifestyle. Can Gen Y afford to live in the city?

7) Social network. Does the city have a rich social fabric, including a diversity of backgrounds and cultures?

Next Generation Consulting is really hot, hot hot! (or cool according to Gen Y). A copy of Next Generation’s handprinting systesm can be located here: http://nextgenerationconsulting.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/consulting.handprinting_madison.