Misconceptions of Millennials
Many individuals from previous generations believe that millennials are “lazy, entitled, selfish, and shallow” (Stein 28) because more millennials live at home than any generation before them. Millennials feel that they are misunderstood because of the misconceptions and feel that previous generations are hypocritical. In his article “The New Greatest Generation” Joel Stein recounts, “I moved home for the first six months after college. When I got hired at TIME, my coworkers hated me for cozying up to the editor of the magazine” (30). Stein, a member of Generation X, tells readers that he had to move home because of the debt he acquired and the difficulty with low employment he encountered. He admits that attempting to
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Millennials are aware that the lower paying jobs, like working at McDonalds, will not turn into a career because they will not make enough to support a family in the future or to pay back student loans. In the article “The Best Job Market in History,” Cyndee Miller explains, “Three industries reported expected hiring levels that fell below the national average: machinery (55.9%), food industry (47.3%), and health care (34.5%)” (13). The drop-in hiring levels creates an oversaturation in the job market because of the over qualification of many individuals and the lack of practical job experience. The available jobs go to the more experienced candidates because most individuals have a college degree but not job experience that would set them apart from other applicants. Millennials are faced with greater financial challenges because of the job market and the debt they acquire to achieve a college education. The financial challenges force Millennials to not be independent and create the negative perception that they are lazy
Girod, Gary. "Are The Millennials The Screwed Generation." Mag.newsweek.com. Joel Kotkin, 16 July 2012. Web. 24 Oct. 2013.
In the article, “A Generation of Slackers? Not So Much”, Catherine Rampell explains why older generations find millennials to be the laziest generation yet and provides facts that contrast the claim. The generations that came before millennials like Generation X and Baby Boomers have multiple reasons explaining why young people have became less productive over the years. Catherine Rampell provides information regarding how millennials are not as lazy as Generation X has made them out to be.
The new greatest generation was written by Joel Stein, and is critical analysis of the new generation in this article Stein states that people that are in the new millennial generation are considered narcissistic, lazy, and highly unmotivated. He is a writer for the world famous time magazine. The author thinks the only thing the new generation cares about is themselves. The author ran some tests on a huge amount of college students to see if they were narcissistic or not, according to those statistics he found that about fifty percent in 2009 are al considered to be narcissistic. The author shows that technology
Millennials are often portrayed as spoiled rich people who still rely heavily on their parents for everything. This makes them seem childish, and Matchar’s questionable usage of these terms nonetheless is an obvious jab at the poster minority. Millennials overall are hard working and put under more stress than their predecessors, and the ridicule they endure for their work is uncalled for. Therefore, the thesis’s major flaw almost entirely overshadows its main
He quotes William Strauss, the author of Millennials Rising as saying America’s young are “generally a hardworking, cheerful, earnest, and deferential group”. Brooks maintains that today’s elite college students are rule followers who “don’t live in that age of rebellion or alienation”. He says that these students now live in an age when the battles of militant feminists, theological conflicts, and the Reagan years are over. Millennials, according to Brooks, live in a “just world which rewards high achievers who ‘play by its rules” and respect the “fundamental order of the
Not So Much”, explains how Generation Y is not necessarily lazy, but rather conforming to fit changing times and a changing system. Her degree in journalism from Princeton, and experience in writing about economics, politics and data-driven journalism, more than qualifies her for writing about such a topic. I was one of those people who believed that today’s generation is too dependent on their parents, always looking for a hand-out and have a sense of entitlement. After reading this, I now have a slightly different opinion about Millennials. Of course, there will always be slackers in every generation whether past, present or future, but there is always more than what meets the eye. Just because someone may not spend their forty-hour work week all in the office, does not mean that they are working any less, but that because of today’s technology they can work from almost anywhere. As for the amount of graduated college students that return to live at home with their parents, it is not necessarily because they are too apathetic to go out and support themselves, but rather the reason being the high unemployment rate among sixteen to twenty-four year olds. After the Great Recession in 2009, many Millennials either lost their jobs, or were simply unable to find one after graduation. While I was raised to believe that if you wanted something, you worked for it, I truly hope that today’s generation is still
Generation Y, more commonly referred to as the “millennials”, is today’s group of young people. Similar to other generations, each cohort is labeled with unique characteristics and inevitably faces adversities while taking its place in society. Many American’s today debate their views on the youngster generation, but none the less all sides can agree the discussion has become a hot topic. Catherin Rampell creates an open discussion in her article, A Generation of Slackers? Not So Much, addressing the main issue: Are millennials a generation of slackers. I feel strongly that my views align with Rampell’s, in believing my generation has already begun to show its capability of doing great things. Through analysis of the text and my own personal experience I am able to dispute the opposition towards my generation as well as, express the positive relationship of millennials in
A majority of people believe that graduating from college will result in a well-paying job. Unfortunately, a degree will not secure a job for many graduates. In the U.S., the jobless rate for college graduates in 2012 was 7.7 percent, and has further increased in the past five years(Robinson). With such a large pool of unemployed citizens for employers to choose from, recent graduates are facing fewer opportunities for work due to little or no previous work experience(Robinson). Although many graduates are faced with unemployment, the majority do receive the opportunity to work. Sadly, many must work jobs they do not enjoy for salaries that make it difficult to make ends meet(Debate). Students are faced with mortgage-sized debts upon graduation, making it difficult for them to start businesses, buy cars or houses, or make other investments that would better the
Millennials are accused of being tough to manage, behaving entitled, unfocused, lazy, narcissistic; however, they seek to have a purpose that they love and make an impact. Yet, the more they receive, they are not happy. Sinek jokingly states that they could be offered “free food and bean bags, because that is what they want, and they will still not be happy.” According to Sinek, there is a missing piece for millennials, furthermore, he goes on to say there are four characteristics that make millennials the way they are, “parenting, technology, impatience, and environment.” (2016).
1) Common characteristics of “The Greatest Generation” that Brokaw mentioned are a sense of personal responsibility and a commitment to honesty. Among them, personal responsibility was the defining characteristic of the WWII generation. It is like endeavoring to get what a person wants or has to do, preserving what the person gets, and overcoming hardships if there’s any in the process. I think the current generation has less personal responsibility than the WWII generation. People tend to depend on their parents, other family members, or guardians, and easily give up; increasing suicide rates is an extreme example of giving up a life.
Everyone would think getting an education is easy so you wouldn’t need a minimum wage job, but it isn’t. College tuition has gone up and so have private schools and catholic schools. Some private schools are at the cost of some colleges. Education has become very expensive, that people decide not to attend college and rather work a low paying job to get by. Some young adults are responsible for college payments if they want to further their education to make something of themselves because their parents do not have the financial funds to pay for it. People may think that parents just don’t want to pay for it, but that’s not the case, they just cannot afford it on their minimum wage job so young adults are forced to get jobs in areas such as department and grocery stores, or
A current recession is forcing people to have to deal with low wages and a horrendous lack of flexibility, in regards to hours. In fear of unemployment, today’s work choose to bear with these conditions instead of demanding for better treatment. In “Why Your Office Needs More Bratty Millennials,” Emily Matchar, the author, claims that the workforce would benefit from adding millennials, those born from 1983-1999, because their aggressive demanding tactics would cause companies to eventually have to adapt. These companies would have to adapt because by 2025, 75 percent of the workforce will be millennials. All of the external sources and numbers, provided by Matchar, don’t back up her claim, resulting in a weak
In David Brook’s essay, “It’s Not About You,” Brooks mentions and describes the challenges college graduates face when looking for a job. He goes on and describes how this generation is different than any other generation. He explains how college graduates don’t go on and get married, buy houses, and have kids like previous generations. He also states how college prepares you with a set of skills that are much different to the ones you encounter when you graduate. Those skills you have to learn on your own.
Blaising, Craig A., Kenneth L. Gentry, and Robert B. Strimple. Three Views On the Millennial and Beyond. Counterpoints. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1999.
It is not very often that a common ground is not established when on the combined subjects of Millennials and entitlement. Some believe that the blame for entitled Millennials should be placed on Millennials themselves while others believe that the blame should be placed on society and those surrounding Millennials. A stereotypical Millennial