Along with Gen Y’s oft-recounted “delayed adulthood,” it appears there has been delayed development of basic skills, as well, and a wave of companies want to be resources of information instead of just sources for products. Brands including The Home Depot, Procter & Gamble, West Elm and Sherwin-Williams have all started offering classes and online tutorials to teach such basic skills as using a tape measure, mopping floors and mowing lawns. Millennials have shown they love pets and are eager to learn, so it might be worth giving some thought to what else millennials might not know how to do — how to maintain a litter box, safely walk a dog, clean a fish tank — and how to incorporate those activities into offerings in a non-condescending way to this key cohort.
