Commentary by Danielle Ryan, Staff Writer
A group of friends go out together, perhaps for dinner and a movie. They order their favorite dishes or maybe something new and when the food comes, they immediately take out their smart phones and snap a picture of their delicious looking meals so they can post it on Instagram. After this necessary task is performed, the group indulges in their dinner, all the while everyone’s phones inevitably buzz or ping, alerting the group of the urgencies in their daily lives like whether or not Heather is seriously going to give Justin another chance after what he did at that party last weekend. And so, the majority of the conversations being held at the table are actually between the group and outsiders than with each other.
Right away, anyone can pick up on what generation this hypothetical group must be from. At least they can guess based on the stereotype. Millennials. Self-obsessed, whiny, technologically dependent, lazy, and distrusting millennials. Identified as the generation born within the years of 1981 and about 1996, millennials are the generation that everyone’s talking about. It’s because we’re older now, most of us old enough to be starting down our career paths and others soon to be on their way out of college and into the real world. Older generations are worried that we’re taking over, especially in the workforce. And they’re right.
A statistics infographic from Red Tree Leadership and Development shows data from the US Census Bureau and the Pew Research Center that predicts a colossal take over by millennials and the next generation in the workplace. The data suggests that “by the year 2020, [millennials] could make up nearly half of the workforce-even with Baby Boomers delaying retirement.”The infographic goes on to say that millennials are more likely to leave their jobs after only a few years and that the costs of replacing them is growing constantly and is already costing companies amounts in the hundreds of thousands, some larger companies have to pay millions.
Further statistics show that millennials have different expectations and opinions regarding their work. For example, it is pointed out that, “4 out of 5 Millennials want regular feedback from their boss” and moreover, “7 out of 10 Millennials say they need “me time” at work.” So, we seem to be proving the Boomers right because according to these statistics, millennials are a cause for concern despite the fact that the infographic also states t hat millennials are better educated than older generations (meaning they’ve been through higher levels of education, not that they are necessarily more intelligent).
Yes, we as millennials get distracted easier and tend to have an almost unrealistic optimism about ourselves. This stems from our access to more information than any generation before us has had, and many of us are more capable to be out in the real world than our parents and grandparents may think. Personally, when I hear my generation referred to as “millennials” I frown a little because I know the connotation behind the term. To older generations, we are overconfident kids who aren’t even close to being ready to be thrust into the real world, and even if they want to have hope that we will do good things for the world and be successful but can’t see past the stereotype that ha been instilled in us.
In comical viral videos such as Official Comedy’s “Millennials in the Workplace Training Video” and Mashable’s faux public service announcement, “Kevin Bacon Explains the ‘80s to Millennials,” this generation is portrayed and addressed though common stereotypes such as millennials not knowing that the time 9:30 a.m. existed as shown in the parody training video. The latter video tells us that our generation has it way easier than generations before us. Actor Kevin Bacon laments that, “All you guys born after 1985 have no idea how hard life was.” Bacon, who is most known for his role as Ren McCormack in the original “Footloose” (released in 1984), goes on to say more in his scripted announcement but seems to loose his viewers attention and chooses to leave out of frustration with millennials’ supposedly short attention spans.
So yes, there are a lot of people in my generation that follow the stereotype but the Boomers should have a little more faith. And maybe it’s just my millennial optimism shining through but even though there’s work to be done still, I know we’ll be ready to get out there and be real adults when the time comes.
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