In the past few years as Generation Y has been graduating from college and entering the workforce, employers aren’t really sure what to make of us. To them it seems that while we are reaping the benefits of a childhood crammed with lessons, practices, rehearsals, and tutors and are tech savvy beyond our years, we are stunted by a spoiled unwillingness to pay our dues at work. To introduce today’s employers to Generation Y, articles have proliferated on the web. National periodicals such as the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and the Washington Post have all had something to say about Gen Y. The general consensus is that we’re a generation of status-seeking, label-conscious narcissists who’ll wither unless lavished with praise. I must say that to have such venerable sources as these devote so much text to us is plenty flattering. But even as our detractors (mostly cynical Gen Xers) deride the indulgent way we were brought up, by writing about us they acknowledge something crucial – we matter. And of course, we revel in the attention. As we charge into the workplace in Boomer-comparable numbers, here are a couple of crucial Gen Y idiosyncrasies to consider: - Gen Y is in constant communication. Our parents waited for days in line to get tickets to the Rolling Stones. We waited for days to get the latest iPhone. Whether it’s via Twitter, Facebook, or Loopt, we are always connected to our friends. And we talk. About everything. That’s right, even salary. It’s not uncommon for a circle of close friends to know how much each one makes, and I mean right down to the dollar. After all, we plaster our lives all over the Internet so why should we conceal potentially useful information like that from our friends? When it comes to job hunting, friends are our first source of information. By using our friends as a barometer, we can figure out what we’re worth and set expectations appropriately. If a job offer doesn’t meet expectations, many of us won’t hesitate to walk away. After all, Gen Y is known for having an exceptionally close relationship with their parents and so moving back in with mom and dad isn’t the end of the world for us.
- Gen Y thrives in a flexible working environment. We don’t want the Office Space life. We want to enjoy our jobs, but they’re not going to be the center of our worlds. Strict cubicle confinement is a surefire path to low morale and low productivity. You see, in college, laptops were standard. To get our work done, we weren’t restricted to the library or to the dorms. While previous generations may have hung out in coffee shops snapping their fingers to beat poetry, we’re there primarily to get work done. We’ve become accustomed to taking our information with us everywhere. As a result we are looking for flexibility in our job. If our job doesn’t demand our presence in the office every day, we’d like the opportunity to telecommute once in awhile.
- Gen Y has honed the skill of multi-tasking into a fine art. If there’s one Gen Y stereotype that continues to prove itself (if not quantitatively, at least anecdotally) it’s that we have a short attention span. At any given time, a typical Gen Yer is doing 20 things at once. Rarely will you look upon the computer screen of a Gen Yer and see just one or two applications open. It’s much more common to see two or more instant messaging apps (or, if the Gen Yer is particularly tech savvy, multiple IM apps consolidated into one via Pidgin or Adium), no fewer than 10 websites open (using tabbed browsing, of course) in Internet Explorer or Firefox (but probably Firefox), Excel, Word, and their corporate email all open at once. But although we’re bouncing from one item to the next and back again so quickly, we’re no less productive. As I’ve said, we’re used to having our information with us wherever we go and that includes our work information. While we don’t want to be confined to a cubicle for 8 hours straight, we also don’t really subscribe to the traditional workday mindset. If we’re playing around online at midnight or on the weekend and an idea involving a work project suddenly strikes us, we’ll open up a tab, log in remotely and get to work.
- We set ambitious goals for ourselves. We want to be successful in everything we do and we recognize the importance of education. Many Gen Yers were brought up believing that attending college was not optional, it was expected. We’ve been groomed to value education and continue to seek it out in the workplace. Companies that place emphasis on training programs and mentorship or that offer tuition reimbursement are very attractive to the Gen Y set. (Coldstone Creamery earns bonus points with its interactive, computer game-based training programs.) Additionally, we are not unwilling to start at the bottom, but everything we do in the meantime is in preparation for the next step. Gen Y doesn’t respond well to institutionalized rules governing advancement; if we master all the skills for a particular role in one year, we won’t stay in that role for two just because corporate policy demands it before allowing for promotion.
Generation Y has benefited from growing up in an age of economic prosperity, an age where all of the world’s information is available instantly at the click of a button. We did not grow up fearing war or hunger or joblessness – we’ve had it pretty good. And so it seems as though we are arrogant and spoiled and don’t want to pay our dues at work, but that isn’t the case. We know what it means to work hard and we are not afraid. We’ve had to work hard and differentiate ourselves in order to compete with unprecedented numbers of people to get accepted into college and then repeat that process to get our first jobs. Sure, we have our quirks, but we’re smart and hard-working and capable of big things. |
