The Greatest Generation and the Y Generation in the Workplace
Thursday, November 1st, 2007
I know it is impolitic to speak ill of the “greatest generation� and the baby boomers because they helped pull America’s hide from the fires of war. People like Tom Brokaw have trumpeted the achievements of people growing up in the 1940s and 1950s ad nauseum and it is time to move on. We can recognize history without constantly reliving it and the Y generation is now taking hold of the workplace. I will remember the sacrifices of the “greatest generation� while I fulfill my own potential.
An article in the recent edition of the Utne Reader indicates that there is an inherent tension between the promises of the baby boomer generation and the realities of the Y Generation. The yuppie lifestyle and life of fulfilling work promised to college graduates is dashed from day one of an administrative assistant job that can pay for a studio apartment. As a member of this generation, I have to ask: were we sold a bill of goods or are we just a generation of whiners?
I think it is a little bit of both though I think the exaggeration of the importance of the baby boomers over the last two decades has cast a shadow over the Y generation. How can a 23 year old graduate living on a shoe string budget contend with a 55 year old professional deeply ensconced in the upper middle class lifestyle? The flower children and hippies of the past have turned into road blocks to progress for the Y generation as they clutch to their positions in a last effort to pay off their mortgage and their loan on a BMW. The referenced article states that the next few years will be heady for young workers but frustrating for companies due to a high number of vacant positions. This bodes well for Generation Y if its members can keep their eyes on the prize.
The Utne Reader article is accurate that the Y generation is impatient and easily frustrated with the grind of entry level work. As someone who has had many jobs before settling in as a writer, I have to say that my degrees meant little when I had to deal with ignorant co-workers significantly older than myself. The problem is that the Y generation needs to use this impatience as a virtue. Impatience and a desire to advance can be useful when converted into aggressiveness in the workplace. If that doesn’t work, do what many in the Y generation have started doing: start your own business. I would suggest retirement homes, adult diapers and other goods to reap the benefits of the baby boomer generation.
