Millennials take a lot of flak from the generations that came before them. It’s sort of the modus operundi, older generations look at younger generations and shake their heads in disdain.

I’m not one of those people. In fact, Millennial living sounds pretty awesome to me as a caregiver.

Millennials are highly educated, focused on family, have a strong sense of value, and have transformed (or are in the process of transforming) the workplace.

And for caregivers, present and future, that last aspect of Millennialism could be really, really helpful to us.

I’ve spoken to many caregivers and one of the most stressful aspects of being a caregiver is how to keep much needed employment. But maybe it’s Millennials to the rescue?

Top employers work hard to attract and retain talent, and in order to do that in a time when boomers are retiring at a rate of 10,000 per day they need to offer benefit packages that go beyond good pay to entice a demographic of people who are focused on living their best life.

One aspect of these new benefit packages that are enticing include the ability to telecommute, and alternative work schedules. These weren’t even real options when I entered the professional workforce even though we had the capability to make that kind of arrangement possible. As hard as it is to believe, computers, internet, and mobile phones existed back in the early 2000s – it wasn’t all typewriters and rotary phones.

I struggle so much with the question of what would happen to our family if I lost my job because of my duties as a caregiver. So much of what I do could be accomplished successfully via telecommute – but would my employer be open to this arrangement?

I propose that as employers are looking at how to appease these younger and talented potentials, they should also look at how they can retain current top talent already dedicated to their mission and values.

As for the issue of Millennials, I remain indebted to them because while I don’t yet benefit from alternative workplace arrangements, this necessary conversation is finally on the agenda – and for people like me, it could mean the difference between managing, and not.