Does this sound familiar?
“Why do those in the Millennial generation seem to have such a sense of entitlement?”
“Has anyone else noticed the “Paris Hilton syndrome” that is taking over our young people’s brains? The lust and desire for material possessions and fame increases, while the standards of hard work and creativity diminsh.”
Gen Y:
Mike: “Older people sometimes laugh when I say I want my job to have meaning.My parents’ generation… they often accept that a job is a job. (They) say my generation is spoiled — I’m spoiled — because I look for work that means something to me. They were satisfied with the paycheck. I have the luxury of wanting much more.”
Katie:I feel like i want a lot more out of my work than what my parents generation ever thought of let alone expected. Older men laugh at the idea.”
Justin:
“I often play the work/life balance card to work from my girlfriend’s apartment in DC for a day so I can have a long weekend. It is critical to have the balance (between work and life) and I will demand it or find a new job.”
The first comments came from the web. The Gen Y comments are from the transcripts of a series of online focus groups we conducted among young professionals last spring. The general theme was that my job isn’t big enough for me, I want more from my job than just a job. Millennials feel prepared to make a difference.
Managers interpret this yearning for ‘more’ as over-ambition and unrealistic expections. The biggest frustration I hear when I speak with managers about their Millennial employees is an inability to meet high expectations on the job. Managers feel pressured to give young workers more responsibility, more praise, more rewards, faster than they feel comfortable. One senior brand agency exec I spoke with last week described his anguish over having to fire a talented and promising young Millennial because he was exhausted by the constant demands for more responsibility that he didn’t feel the employee was ready to assume.
One generation’s idea of ‘spoiled’ is another’s idea of ‘better prepared’. Here’s blogger Cliff Mason’s response to a review of Ron Alsop’s new book, “The Trophy Kids Grow Up.” Cliff blogs for CNBC at MillennialMoney.
“We all know the rap about us so-called millennials: we’re spoiled, we have entitlement issues, we think we’re better than everyone else, we have unrealistic expectations about entering the workforce. Apparently we were coddled too much by our parents and teachers, or at least that’s what the baby boomers keep telling me…..At the end of the day the millennial generation is better educated, more adept at using technology, and much more media savvy than generation X or the baby boomers. Maybe we feel superior because we actually are?”
I may have to agree with Cliff. At the very least, it’s worth giving him and his generation the benefit of the doubt. After all, it may be true!
