The explosion of online business tools is changing the way we work - and Australians say it’s Generation Y who is at the heart of this development

A survey from Premiere Global (PGi) revealed that many companies have embraced these new tools - such as social networking sites, instant messaging and web conferencing. The impetus for this has been cited as Gen Y; with an overwhelming majority (69%) saying it is this age demographic who is driving change. The most common technological advance in the workplace was instant messaging - with 59 per cent of Australians saying it is now used in the office as a matter of routine. Nearly half of respondents (49%) said that Gen Ys had helped to bring video and web conferencing into the nation’s boardrooms while 43 per cent announced that thanks to younger staff members social networking sites (Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter for example) were acceptable tools for the office.