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Mrs. Tek is a manger in a government position. There are several "Millennials" as she calls them that have been working there for about a year.
She notes:
They run in packs
They are always doing "something" with their Blackberry, or whatever version they have
They are very polite
They are hard workers
They are smart
They will sit down and play a game of cards (very important to us Boomers!)
She enjoys their company
I guess, like in every thing else, what you read is not always what you get...
this is so true from my experience. the issue comes in that some older workers look at us always doing something with our smartphone, listening to our ipod while working, multitasking, etc...and think we are goofing off. then they always act surprised when they receive projects on time or ahead of time.
my colleagues and I got pretty close as friends at my old job. we used to get ridiculed because we'd all go to the deli at the same time, and come back to the office, sit in a conference room, and eat lunch and b.s. for our lunch time. we'd laugh, talk about weekend plans, etc. someone's mentor told him that we should really be careful, because people view it as being lazy and not getting our work done, and having "fun" in the office.
apparantly, if we all left the office for an hour and ate like that out of sight, it would be ok. but if they witnessed it...we were lazy goof-offs.
So they are good soldiers as long as they are assigned the task at hand. What about creativity and innovation? Do they have the ability to self-motivate and think independently? Suppose they don't have a pack or a boomer around to give them support or praise. This is not a generation of leaders or free thinkers.
wow. really?!
have you happened to notice all the creativity that has existed in a place called silicon valley? self-motivate and think independently? ummm...yeah, i think the generation of people ages 20-40 have done pretty well with that so far. speaking of thinking independently, i'm still trying to get most of the Directors i work with to stop having their admins print out every single thing they need to read and maybe save our company some money. old habits die hard i guess...
Real estate prices have plummeted since their peak in about 07. Housing is now quite affordable for those getting into the market and great buys can be found if one is willing to look into bank owned and foreclosure properties. Interest rates are very low - now is a good time for first time buyers. I don't see many GenY taking the initiative to seek out the good deals or having patience to deal with red tape, just complaining about high rents and higher home prices than ten years ago.
Good for any of them that are willing to push forward and do what it takes and don't give up because something seems hard.
i don't know that foreclosure purchases are a great idea for first time home buyers. with the possibility of liens on a house, and neglect that is common...i don't know about that.
a great time to buy for first time buyers....that have a job! it also depends on where in the country you are.
I had a roommate after college that went to Vanderbilt. She paid off her student loans in 10 years. I went to a state school, got a partial scholarship, worked 60 hours a week in the summer and 30 hours a week during school, and lived like a pauper so I could minimize my student loans. I spent about $6 per week on "fun" money (that was 2 pitchers of beer at the Dixie Chicken) and did little else that cost money. These days I see students taking loans to cover every one of their expenses and still going to Starbucks 3-4 times a week, the movies with friends, unlimited talk and text on their cell phones, and eating out a lot. If they work, they use the money for more fun and not to help pay basic bills that would reduce the need for loans. Thus $70K or more student loans when they graduate. It's just a different mindset.
star bucks a couple times a week isn't why students have $70k in loans. yeah, they could save $10/week on coffee and at the end of 4 years of college have approximately $2,000 less in loans. cmon....if you don't see how quickly tuition has risen, including state schools, then you need to take off your blinders.
I am generation Y-- just turned 25-- I worked my way from $6 an hour, to $86 an hour (salaried now though).
I haven't seen any whining in my generation-- so I'm not clear what you are talking about. However, I have seen lots of hard working, tech savvy, individuals who don't conform to past notions of Reaganomics and excessive spending.
Generation Y is able to multitask and understand vast complicated concepts. I'd say the internet is what allowed this generation to become educated so quickly. And with education comes questioning the status quo.
But everyone isn't a techie. Most people in their twenties just cannot earn a large salary. I do think they tend to give up too easily and would benefit from being more creative in career planning and employment searches.
Undoubtedly there are Millennials in college who are not serious students and who expect the world to be handed to them. If this generation is spending alot of time texting on their cell phones its costing very little if they do it on the plan that I subscribe too.
You do that generation a huge disservice though if you are trying to suggest that this typifies Generation Y. You also do all young people an injustice if you don't acknowledge that going to college is one heck of a lot tougher from a financial standpoint than it was twenty or thirty years ago.
To give just one example, when I started college thirty years ago my tuition was the equivalent of $300 per semester. This year the rate of increase of tuition at that same institution (8%) added up to slightly more than $300 for a total of $3300 per semester for a full time student. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that job prospects for seniors graduating from that school are not as good as they were when I attended either.
The Millennials got the short end of the stick in terms of both what education costs and what its rate of return currently is. The colleges get away with what they do largely because many of us refuse to hold their feet to the fire and force public universities to do a better job of justifying the astronomical tuition many are charging.
My generation, the Boomers was on watch when much of this took place. I look back at it now and I see some of our selfishness. We did nothing to object to high tuition. We did little or nothing to force the health care industry to keeps its costs and charges within some reasonable bounds. Most of us were only thinking of ourselves (and many still could care less about anyone outside their immediate circle).
All of us have contributed to the problems today. The only way we will find a solution is if all of us agree to give up something.
and i don't mean this to be offensive, but not only did "you" do nothing about tuition, but you, possibly unknowingly, helped fuel these massive increases by telling johnny he could go wherever he wanted, no matter the cost, and be whatever he wants to be, no matter the salary.
it's not like the world woke up one day and gen x/y all of a sudden had to pay a lot more for tuition than the prior generation...
So they are good soldiers as long as they are assigned the task at hand. What about creativity and innovation? Do they have the ability to self-motivate and think independently? Suppose they don't have a pack or a boomer around to give them support or praise. This is not a generation of leaders or free thinkers.
I asked, and apparently you are wrong. At least about this group.
this is so true from my experience. the issue comes in that some older workers look at us always doing something with our smartphone, listening to our ipod while working, multitasking, etc...and think we are goofing off. then they always act surprised when they receive projects on time or ahead of time.
my colleagues and I got pretty close as friends at my old job. we used to get ridiculed because we'd all go to the deli at the same time, and come back to the office, sit in a conference room, and eat lunch and b.s. for our lunch time. we'd laugh, talk about weekend plans, etc. someone's mentor told him that we should really be careful, because people view it as being lazy and not getting our work done, and having "fun" in the office.
apparantly, if we all left the office for an hour and ate like that out of sight, it would be ok. but if they witnessed it...we were lazy goof-offs.
We used to do the same thing. No one gave us grief. Of course that was 20 years ago or so...
So they are good soldiers as long as they are assigned the task at hand. What about creativity and innovation? Do they have the ability to self-motivate and think independently? Suppose they don't have a pack or a boomer around to give them support or praise. This is not a generation of leaders or free thinkers.
I was a Soldier for 32 years and from personal experience many of those young men are creative, go to school in the evenings to get their degrees and do good in society, are innovators, they are self motivators, think independently, etc. Actually, there are many corporations and businesses that send job ads to different Army publications looking for them for their leadership abilities and their discipline. You are stereotyping a whole generation in this case. There are many young men and women that are leaders and free thinkers.
As I said before, there are certain generational pecularities I do believe are not good but I am not going to label them the way you are. I have to give credit to many of those young men and women that are out there doing great. Maybe if they are failing as you say it is because of what the older generation has left for them as a legacy. In other words they reflect how the older generation shaped them. Let us be honest about that also.
Have you read the book "The death of the grown up"? It is very interesting how parent have also become friends instead of parents to their children and that has created a generation of narcissist and self centered kids also. So who should we blame? Maybe we need to look more how to be parents instead of labeling the ones that look up to us for guidance and example, take care.
The part about if you have fun at work - you're perceived as "goofing off" -- um, that's got nothing to do with age. Its called the corporate culture where you work sucks. I know, I've seen the same thing.
You get in at 6am, work all day, get all your projects handled/done - skip lunch, and leave at 3:00pm. You are perceived as the slacker. The person who gets in at 8:45 (5 mins before the boss) and stays until 5:01 (1 minute after the boss) and is selling stuff on ebay on their shielded computer screen for half the day --- they are a dedicated genius.
Because they are their before the boss and leave after the boss. Its just silly political games - but yes, they can make/break your career.
And my contemporaries are all full Gen X (aged 35 - 45) - so it has nothing to do with corporations resenting Gen Y. Gen Y was not the first technically gifted generation (though I admit, they do kick major tech-butt having been born with cellphones attached) - and they were not the first generation to multi-task and be super efficient.
But - seriously. If you're perceived as a slacker, it doesn't matter that you're not - because in all likelihood you will get a reputation as one, and then kiss your career growth good bye. Offices are - generally speaking - petty places.
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old habits die hard i guess...
At least about this group.
