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One comment I questioned however... This woman was saying about how millennials are aware that there are plenty of jobs and they can always go somewhere else. But this struck me as odd because I'm thinking: Really? Where? I work in Training/HR and I keep hearing about a jobs shortage coming, but I haven't see that happen yet. I also know lots of college kids who are coming out of school and ending up in really crappy jobs because they're competing with older workers who continue to get laid off and have to look for jobs again. So, it had me wondering: Where are all these jobs?
I think it's that they seem to be more flexible. Just because at this job they are a "community educator for a domestic violence agency focusing on HS students" that they have to find a similar job. They might go looking at an HR training job, or get a little more education and work at a pre-school. I think it's a broader vision of what they can do. And I suspect that has a little to do with their tendency to get bored with things faster than previous generations.
Fundamentally what I forsee happening is that it'll just be another post-boomer generation which was promised the world only to realize once in the workforce that the world might be theirs, but it is in dismal condition. You can literally achieve anything you put your head to, but you need to be more financially savvy than every before to ignore the consumerism everyone partakes of/and cannot afford, sharp enough to realize that most people you'll work for want to pay you as little as possible and use up your time for their own purposes, and confident enough to realize that most anything of importance can be learned on the job for any job despite what others would have you believe.
All that said, the world doesn't owe anyone anything and everyone needs to realize that attitude and confidence will only get you so far. I'm not worried about generation M much because there are already plenty of people "out there" who act dysfunctionally. Thge greatest thing about living in the times we do right now is that never before in human history has so many people had such unfettered access to information. Indeed this information age and the knowledge which is within everyone's grasp is what unifies multi-generations of people who live today. I think we're thus going to see some major social and physical innovations in the upcoming years, at a pace never witnessed before.
Although not a Millenial myself (I'm 33), I'm a little uncomfortable with stereotyping an entire generation. There are plenty of lazy, whiny brats in Generation Y, that's for sure. On the other hand, a sizable percentage (perhaps the majority?) of our soldiers and marines fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan are of this generation. For every Millenial who has his or her mom faxing the human resources department, there is probably another one engaged in a fire fight in the Anbar Province. No one can tell me these young men and women are self entitled whiners.
To me the best boss is the one who has clear expectations, assigns clear goals, and who gives me the resources and time I need to meet those expectations and accomplish those goals. I like a boss who just lays out what needs to be done, then stays out of my way while I do it...but who is accessible should I need him/her to step in. I don't run to the boss the second I run into a problem, but if I feel I've spent too much time running in circles (usually when dealing with other departments), I'll get the boss involved. I try to solve any problem on my own first.
I also like a boss who clearly communicates any changes in process or procedure as soon as it's feasible, instead of one who doesn't communicate with me then gets annoyed when I don't follow the "new" process that they didn't tell me anything about.
Basically I agree with everything you said but I didn't like the implication that people under 40 have no work ethic. I'm 32.
I'm tired of dealing with old people age 45+. There's a great disconnect between us (I'm not a Millennial but I'm also no Gen Y or whatever), especially in terms of business development and service. They just "don't get it", that's the frequent complaint we have. We develop business, we handle our business, and then some 55 year old clod comes along and screws it up with whatever they read in some pop culture manual on management.
Boomers expected, and still expect, to stay in a job with the same company for life, and those companies seeking stability in their organization still value the anchor that attitude provides.
As a millenial/Gen Y/"whatever you want to call me," this statement causes horrible dissonance for me. The expectation is exactly the problem!! Our parents blindly trusted their employers to provide for and value them because they were hard-working, reliable, and loyal. My generation KNOWS that we cannot trust a company to provide anything for us. We know that any company would sell us down the river to cover their costs, and we would expect no different from them. We'll still put in the best effort we can while we are with a company, but we know that it is simply a stepping stone in a bright career that is DEFINITELY not with whatever company we are working with at the time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tek_Freek
If I had the choice of hiring a young IT person that I expected to replace in a year (or less) and a Boomer that would likely stay until retirement, you wouldn't get a job, the Boomer would.
This is obviously a problem that companies are facing. From my experiences in internships and co-ops, etc., it was quite obvious that sometimes a concentrated short-term effort by a young person was worth much more to the company than the half-hearted efforts of a "lifer." Certainly these older employees have a wealth of experiential knowledge, but with proper Knowledge Management systems in development, these employees' careers will be nothing more than a database-driven intranet page for young employees in a few years.
I don't mean to sound overzealous about this, but my generation refuses to fall into the same traps as the baby boomers. We know what we are worth to a company, and our nature tells us to exploit it for mutual benefit.
There is no end game because there is no game. Not for this generation. They aren't having children. Children are way too much of a drain on disposable income. Also, this generation has clearly seen how financially impossible children are becoming, and they don't intend to try and set it aright.
Haha, coldwine, this is an interesting post. Obviously sarcastic, and equally witty . It does seem that most in my generation want to push back that part of their life. It is not as self-serving as it may seem, however. I know (personally) that I will not be able to provide the stable environment that a young child needs until I have had a chance to build up a decent financial and career base. Whereas our parents tried to build this career base at a single company or in a single industry, I know that my first ten years out will be devoted to strengthening my resume across multiple career experiences and leveraging it for the best opportunities. Once the "building decade" is behind me, family will be a consideration. That is similar to the views of many that I talk to, and it may be moving towards the "new norm."
There are workaholics, who actual work hard because that was what they were raised to do. I was taught by my parents you are to give all that you can to a job, due it well, and due it with gratitude. Yes some people who are workaholics actually may not due a thing but there are people who work ahrd because that was waht they were taught to do.
I feel bad for my husband he works his butt off at his job, its a good job but like many companies the one he works for is contracted to another company, he is allways worried about contracts getting renewed or when we wiill move next. He gets frustrated becuse one or two of the guys that work with the same company do nothing, and management wont touch them. probably because everyone else picks up there slack so that the contracts are renewed.
Last edited by michelleleigh; 12-23-2007 at 11:35 AM..
An entire generation of coddled, perma-lescent prima donnas is entering the workforce with ridiculous expectations and overbearing parents to back them up.
Nothing like painting an entire group of people with the same brush.
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. It does seem that most in my generation want to push back that part of their life. It is not as self-serving as it may seem, however. I know (personally) that I will not be able to provide the stable environment that a young child needs until I have had a chance to build up a decent financial and career base. Whereas our parents tried to build this career base at a single company or in a single industry, I know that my first ten years out will be devoted to strengthening my resume across multiple career experiences and leveraging it for the best opportunities. Once the "building decade" is behind me, family will be a consideration. That is similar to the views of many that I talk to, and it may be moving towards the "new norm."
