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I retired from a research and development career in 2010. For the most part the young people that were replacing us retiring boomers were talented, ambitious, curious, knowledgeable and agile. They were also respectful and sought out the experience of older workers. Having read this thread I suspect that often the work environment does not lend itself to intergenerational cooperation and respect. That is a pity. I guess I could, like some here, lay claim to "inventing the internet" so-to-say and, for all of us, that is somewhat true in a small frog pond sort of way. The young people haven't begun to make their contributions. So comparing young to old is not always valid. I don't foresee a dark ages so I can predict that when the millennials get to retirement they will have changed the world in wondrous ways that we do not even see today. Just like previous generations.
Gotta laugh at baby boomers who have co-opted the rhetoric of their depression era parents when the truth is they had it easier than any generation before or since. I'd take cheap education and stable jobs with with good benefits over a cell phone and 500 TV channels any day. Quality of life isn't about consumer goods, it's about housing, education, and health care first and foremost.
I would love to retire now. Please someone force me to retire......
Anyway, I am not done building my retirement so I wont without jeopardizing my families fortunes. By continuing to build and prepare for retirement, I will not be a burden in my later years. I don't get a golden government parachute at the end of my career. Realistically, I could keep doing what I do well into my 70's.
Now if a younger "worker" wanted to do what I do, I say more power to them. There is lots of room for the right people in my industry. Problem is, most young people don't want to work in Sales and even fewer will want to work on straight commissions.
That is too bad, because an ethical sales professional who can manage themselves, build their expertise, and develop a business can create an amazing life themselves.
I honestly worry what will happen when the Baby Boomers are gone and the millennials are running things. I think they will realize someday that the Baby Boomers weren't just worthless idiots blocking their success.
I am sick of seeing millennials drifting into other lanes of traffic because they are on their phones, either texting or talking. I am sick of hearing them complain about how they are screwed because of Baby Boomers and how unfair life is for them. I am sick of them not respecting their elders, our country, our flag, our military or anything else. I am sick of their lack of work ethic.
And I'm not going to be pushed out of my job. I will leave when I am ready and not a moment sooner!
Gotta laugh at baby boomers who have co-opted the rhetoric of their depression era parents when the truth is they had it easier than any generation before or since. I'd take cheap education and stable jobs with with good benefits over a cell phone and 500 TV channels any day. Quality of life isn't about consumer goods, it's about housing, education, and health care first and foremost.
There are some considerable differences between Gen-Z and earlier generations - especially when it comes to technology. For example - who here uses Snapchat?
I think individual circumstances can vary so much within generations that it's impossible to generalize about most things. Also - generations can span decades. I'm one of the oldest boomers - born in 1947 - close to 70. The youngest boomers were born in 1964 and are barely over 50. I was retired during the last financial bust. But most young boomers were probably at what should have been the peak of their careers then. A lot lost jobs - home equity (or even homes) - and large parts of any savings/investments they had. And they've been trying to pick up the pieces since then - at relatively old ages.
I agree in general that people my age had the benefit of things like cheap college tuition. But - for people my age or younger with children - the much higher cost of higher education for their children is a heavy weight to bear. Especially if they're trying to save for their own retirements. And double especially if they wind up having to care for their parents - financially or otherwise. The so-called "sandwich generation" effect.
My husband and I (self-employed) always had to scramble to get health care/insurance because of pre-existing condition issues. I am not sure the ACA is so wonderful - but we didn't have a bed of roses in this area either. The places we have lived in weren't as cheap as those our parents bought - although they didn't cost as much as many do today. Then again - when we first got out of (law) school in 1971 - we earned a big $20,000 between the 2 of us. Finally - I don't know a single person our age in either of our families (siblings or cousins) who doesn't work for the government who has a defined benefit pension plan. That kind of thing disappeared for the most part in the private sector with our parents' generation
Overall - I think my husband and I have been very lucky when it comes to a lot of this. But many people in my generation haven't been as lucky (my husband was born in 1945 and isn't in my generation). Robyn
...Now if a younger "worker" wanted to do what I do, I say more power to them. There is lots of room for the right people in my industry. Problem is, most young people don't want to work in Sales and even fewer will want to work on straight commissions.
That is too bad, because an ethical sales professional who can manage themselves, build their expertise, and develop a business can create an amazing life themselves.
Sales is actually something I know a tiny bit about. Because my late FIL worked in sales (fiberboard containers) and my husband's brother does too (automotive chemicals). Talk about a profession that has changed dramatically over the decades from one generation to the next. When my late FIL was working - sales meant wining and dining customers on expense accounts. Taking them out for steak and martini country club lunches and then playing golf (which is how my late FIL became a 10 or better handicap). It was time-intensive (certainly not labor intensive!) and my FIL only had a few large clients.
When my BIL started decades ago - there were still some vestiges of the old system. But they disappeared. First to go were the expense accounts and everything related with them. Then people started getting fired. And someone who used to cover territory X was required to cover territories X and Y. And then more people were fired. And the remaining employee was required to cover territories X and Y and Z. The remaining employee was paid more - but probably not enough to compensate for all the extra time in the job - especially travel time. Then came 2008 - and things like the GM bankruptcy - and my BIL got clobbered. He set up a side business as a home handyman. Now he is back to doing more automotive chemical sales - but it certainly hasn't been an easy road for him. He is quite lucky that his wife is a government employee. So her job has provided health insurance for both of them - and she will get a defined benefit pension when she retires (he at best has a 401k/IRA). Robyn
I honestly worry what will happen when the Baby Boomers are gone and the millennials are running things. I think they will realize someday that the Baby Boomers weren't just worthless idiots blocking their success.
I am sick of seeing millennials drifting into other lanes of traffic because they are on their phones, either texting or talking. I am sick of hearing them complain about how they are screwed because of Baby Boomers and how unfair life is for them. I am sick of them not respecting their elders, our country, our flag, our military or anything else. I am sick of their lack of work ethic.
And I'm not going to be pushed out of my job. I will leave when I am ready and not a moment sooner!
I honestly don't know what you're talking about. For example - I don't have a single doctor who's in my generation. They're all millennials (or maybe even younger) now - and they are very good doctors IMO. I respect them as my doctors. They respect me as their patient.
Lane drifting is common when it comes to anyone who is trying to text/talk while driving - especially without bluetooth (for voice connections). Can't say I don't see it a fair amount where I live. But I see it in drivers aged 16 to 70+. Seems to be a multi-generational problem. Robyn
I honestly don't know what you're talking about. For example - I don't have a single doctor who's in my generation. They're all millennials (or maybe even younger) now - and they are very good doctors IMO. I respect them as my doctors. They respect me as their patient.
Lane drifting is common when it comes to anyone who is trying to text/talk while driving - especially without bluetooth (for voice connections). Can't say I don't see it a fair amount where I live. But I see it in drivers aged 16 to 70+. Seems to be a multi-generational problem. Robyn
Obviously, it's not all of them. But it is a VERY familiar refrain, especially on city-data.
The majority of drivers I see driving erratically because they are on their phones are millennials and younger.
And my husband has to train millennials and they are on their phones CONSTANTLY and he has to tell them to put the phone down so they can listen to what he is trying to teach them.
There are plenty of us in the millennial generation that work very hard but are unable to achieve our dreams without sequential barriers. This includes stereotypes that we are incapable or incapable of conducting business which couldn't be further from the truth.
1) I call this ideology "Reverse Ageism". For BB generation to claim that us, millennials are "useless lackeys that rely on cell-phones" is ridiculous. Many of us are technology advance, and it takes years to memorize syntax structure, the discipline to actively learn a trade, 1,000 of commands memorized and re-readable, dealing with very life-changing situations at the same time, and run an entire organizations that are directly effected at the click of your fingers not excluding actively engaging in feedback, etc. Some of us are learning this at an accelerated pace of 3-months worth of span-time or more agmonst with dealing with medical conditions, lack of sleep, career-job-at stake pressures and politics. Some of us are CIS or Soon-To-Be-Engineers,notconsumer sector.
Out of both opinion and experience I have seen qualified workers from all age-ranges. The problem that millennials face, who, both need jobs and a place to stay aren't getting those jobs. We are often shuffled around, forced into low-paying non-living jobs, or unfortunately face those situations with a worker(s) or boss who is 60+ with full retirement, married, and perks, still occupying a job that should have been retired from 20 years ago. That is a job that could have helped a millennial family or, a job that could have helped a millennial single who could have possibly, done amazing things, and they are unable to get it due to job-squatting and BB clickery.
Unfortunately they can't and the company in question looses out or becomes outdated/stagnant, and looses the BB employee anyway due to natural death. Why? Because Tradition and Stereotypes says so. Regardless of age Respect is earned, not given. Even with conducting business we are often stereotyped and cast under the belief of incompetence, treated as incapable teenagers, deal with many harsh realities or sequences that the previous generation has avoided or profited on, yet carry the same adult weight of any legalized 21+ citizen in the states which includes the ability to vote, to marry, to go to war, to drive a car, to own property, to have monteziation, etc. We have a right to those rights so, using the old "I'm older than you!" is nothing short of ageism and bragging. Good BB's help and look out for millennials. Bad BB's take, Discriminate, Segregate, and leave us jobless..
It's even more difficult for those who are not from the 'mainstream of acceptance'. Imagine if we all allowed every generation the same mind-set to control our minds and futures. We defiantly wouldn't have the technology we have now and would be forced to work farms or non-sustainable jobs for the rest of our lives. That is a future that no one wants, struggling at the bottom where one cannot even feed themselves let alone a family or, even help a family member or friend in need because they can't even afford medical treatment due to low-income.
That's not a future America is looking towards nor should be encouraging. We cannot complain about the world's problems yet blindly turn an eye to our own right in our own backyards. Eventually everyone will be forced to leave their jobs as we don't live forever but still, don't hold back the very generation that can and is capable, of doing great things.
There is plenty of sexism, racism, and age-discrimination in this country. There has been an unhealthy fetishism of harassing, killing, or destroying the lives of college students as well too, and many other hazards that our generation still faces not excluding homelessness and of course, the crushing school-to-debt regime.
Try getting your education or life-dream job where every time you turn around this is happening and or someone is threatening your job (your life source). I think the BB generation seriously needs to step back and re-examine the type of real society that is out there that we face. Not everyone is privilege to be a stay-at-home-since-my-husband-works, old-money, or-we-are-retired group while watching MSNBC or The Shopping Channel for entertainment. Your jealous of us, yet you want us. Wtf.
I would question, if someone is younger than you, why even feel threatened by them in the first place? Your life is almost half-over, yet your upset at someone else maintaining or starting theirs? Some insecurities here? Do this generation think it's funny to peanut-pay us while they wine and dine on privilege, stocks, and pleasures at our expense?
True professionals don't have time to get jealous, they are busy working changing lives and advancing society.
A College Student
No one owes you anything. As an adult, you chose to acquire, as you stated, crushing debt to obtain a degree. Many people that cannot afford the cost of a university degree learn alternative, high paying career skills through community colleges or by starting at the bottom and clawing their way to the top. You are no more special than the next person.
There are no guarantees in life. Many baby boomers also acquired university degrees, as well as, high paying careers, with good healthcare and retirement benefits, only to be terminated from those jobs. They lost their careers and their retirement benefits. Many baby boomers lost everything they worked their entire life for, including their homes and cars. Life is not fair.
I can't imagine why you would think baby boomers feel threatened by your generation? Why would you think that a baby boomer should give up their job so you could take their place? This is not fantasy land, this is the real world. You are correct though, about respect needing to be earned. You earn respect by showing respect, then, it will be returned. Respect works both ways. Degrees do not earn automatic respect.
Everyone is stereotyped throughout their lives, from the moment you are born until the day you die. You are guilty of stereotyping the baby boomers,as well.
Every generation has done and will continue to do great things. The next generation will also think that your generation destroyed the world for them. That is the way life is. Just as there will always be racism, sexism, discrimination; these thing will never be overcome. It is an improbable task.
Young and old are having difficulty finding good paying jobs. We the people do not control what our government does. Jobs have been outsourced; technology has eliminated many more. Dr.'s lawyers, engineers, etc., can't find work, due to advances in technology.
Your whole post is one of a person that made choices in their adult life without careful consideration of all aspects of those choices.
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A College Student
