Raise your hand if you are - or raised - responsible millenials!

[vla1120]

I cringe every time I hear someone complain about millenials. Not every single millenial is lazy, entitled and irresponsible. All three of my daughters, while they may have some dating issues, are very responsible, reliable employees with an excellent work ethic. I get offended for them when I hear people talk disparagingly about millenials. I even agree with some of their views. I hate talking on the phone and would rather text. (I'll send you right to voicemail, then text "What's up?")

 

I just wonder if responsible millenials or their parents challenge these comments when they hear them. I do, because it's like any other discriminatory instance when we unfairly bunch an entire group of people into one category.

[Art_Critic]

As an employer who hires them I can tell you it isn't easy.. even the good ones have bad habits, like the phone and FB...

Most feel that the phone is an extension of their life and they must have their FB/Instagram time while on the clock.

 

I fired one a few years ago because she felt netflix was more important than her job...

I also have issues with their work ethic, they feel 40 hrs is a lot of hours to work.. I have one that I can't get to work more than 35-40hrs a week no matter how busy we are, while his coworkers are putting in 10-15 hrs a week more...

He seems fine with not advancing at his reviews..

 

It isn't fair that we paint them all with a broad brush but when you employ them there literally is a line drawn you can see in the generation gap and it is hard to not use the term to apply to them all..

I do understand they aren't all like that but if it looks like a duck then most of the time it is a duck...

[vla1120]

As an employer who hires them I can tell you it isn't easy.. even the good ones have bad habits, like the phone and FB...

Most feel that the phone is an extension of their life and they must have their FB/Instagram time while on the clock.

 

I fired one a few years ago because she felt netflix was more important than her job...

I also have issues with their work ethic, they feel 40 hrs is a lot of hours to work.. I have one that I can't get to work more than 35-40hrs a week no matter how busy we are, while his coworkers are putting in 10-15 hrs a week more...

He seems fine with not advancing at his reviews..

 

It isn't fair that we paint them all with a broad brush but when you employ them there literally is a line drawn you can see in the generation gap and it is hard to not use the term to apply to them all..

I do understand they aren't all like that but if it looks like a duck then most of the time it is a duck...

 

Hmmm. Maybe it is the way mine were raised, then, and the example I set. They knew not to contact me at work unless it was an emergency because, for me to put food on the table and a roof over their heads, that time belonged exclusively to my employer and clients. I do know that they leave their phones in their car or purse when they go to work and only check them on breaks or at lunch. Also, mine quite often work way over their expected time. One does not leave until all the delivery trucks are back in the yard at night, though she could leave at 5pm. But again, they watched me (and still see me) stay at work until the job was done, or I bring it home with me. I guess it is how they are raised.

 

Mine were also required to get a job as soon as they could get working papers. I think ALL kids should have to work, pay their share of auto insurance, etc. I don't care how many extra-curricular activities they are involved in. They also had to keep up their grades. If their grades slipped, the job stayed, the extra activities went because responsibility must also be taught somewhere in there.

[basil67]

Old fuddy duddies have been complaining about young people since time began. All generations have had members who have questionable behaviour, but the fuddy duddies focus on those people and think it's representative of all. Their criticism of younger generations only serves to show us how blinkered they are.

 

The probably also go about grumbling about other parts of life too.

[basil67]

As an employer who hires them I can tell you it isn't easy.. even the good ones have bad habits, like the phone and FB...

Most feel that the phone is an extension of their life and they must have their FB/Instagram time while on the clock.

 

I fired one a few years ago because she felt netflix was more important than her job...

I also have issues with their work ethic, they feel 40 hrs is a lot of hours to work.. I have one that I can't get to work more than 35-40hrs a week no matter how busy we are, while his coworkers are putting in 10-15 hrs a week more...

He seems fine with not advancing at his reviews..

 

It isn't fair that we paint them all with a broad brush but when you employ them there literally is a line drawn you can see in the generation gap and it is hard to not use the term to apply to them all..

I do understand they aren't all like that but if it looks like a duck then most of the time it is a duck...

 

Sounds like you've got enough overtime happening there to justify another staff member. Or contractor. Why ask overtime of the staff when you could offer another person a job?

[basil67]

In the 1950's and 1960's the baby boomers were going to send us to hell in a handcart because of the long hair, rock music and then the pill and hippy trippy peace and love era.

[major_merrick]

My husband, my GFs, and I are Millennials. Well, on the early side of it anyway since I'm in my early 30's. I tend to agree that Millennials are largely irresponsible, but I blame bad parenting and society for a lot of it. While I think employers are often overly demanding of long hours and overtime (sorry, but you don't own me), I think Millennials often lack basic work skills such as showing up on time and doing what you say you will do. In the workplace, if the terms of employment are clearly laid out, then there's nobody else to blame if you don't like your working conditions.

 

That said, there are way too many poorly paying jobs that people would only take if they were desperate - no wonder so many workers are unmotivated. The purchasing power of the common worker has been eroded since the 1970s, and wealth inequality is astonishing. Unless you are very skilled or very lucky, there is little future to hope for. Millennials in the workplace are often ten years behind where their parents were at the same age due to the recession - which has not let up, contrary to what our leaders often say.

 

What Millennials lack most is critical thinking. Those skills haven't been taught by parents, society, or government schools. Ingenuity and the ability to think outside the box are necessary to get ahead in hard times. Unless you are taught these things (like my husband) or forced to learn it to survive (like me) you go along to get along, and that isn't a recipe for success. For me, hunger and danger was a powerful motivator. For my husband, it was old-fashioned values such as duty and honor and family. I have yet to figure out what motivates most Millennials.

[noelle303]

Well, I used to be puzzled by it too, because I'm a millenial as are all my friends and we are all quite successful and hard-working.

 

We all have degrees, most of us worked while being in school and got fairly good jobs after graduation that we excel at.

 

But then again, as basil pointed out - every new generation has the older people thinking they're going to ruin us. Hell, I catch myself wondering the same thing looking at the new Generation Z and the stupid things they're into.

[nospam99]

I had to look it up. Based on the definition I found, born 81-96, all three of mine are 'in'. TL/DR I'll say I raised two out of three to be responsible and there is still hope for the third. Due to lack of maturity, a lot of the 'raising' is still in progress in their 20s.

 

In general in the US:

- entitled

- IMO too tuned in to technology - can use a cell phone but can't rewire a junction box, change a faucet stem, shingle a roof, clean the gutters, change the oil on a lawmower, or get flowers or vegetables to grow

- justifiably cynical and unmotivated - they've seen their hard-working parents laid off, most of the good jobs replaced by poor-quality production from China, their lazier peers given preference in college admission, hiring, and promotion because of demographic factors, and the environment going to hell

- big into substance abuse and obesity caused by lack of physical activity

 

In my family, my ex-wife was zero on discipline and fought me tooth and nail if I tried to discipline ours or set standards for behavior. I'll take ALL the credit that in spite of all that, two out of three eventually became sufficiently motivated to get moderately skilled employment. All graduated community college but a lot of that can be attributed to so much native intelligence that the only way to have failed would have been to just not do the work (and there were a few years of that). Incidentally none of them graduated high school in the 'traditional' manner - along with all the other lowering of standards for education in the US, the public school system created several ways to get that diploma without doing all the work and meeting all the standards that my generation (boomers) had to do.

[Els]

Hi! We've been self-sufficient for almost a decade now, pay all our bills on time, contribute a lot (too much, I think...) to taxes, and have helped plenty of others along the way. No debt, good amount of savings. Our careers are going well, he's saved a bunch of lives, and I'm an employer now. We may love our tech and our travel, but I don't see how or why that would make us "irresponsible", any more so than enjoying knitting or fishing would.

 

 

 

Are there irresponsible millennials? Sure. But that applies to everyone of every generation out there. Plenty of irresponsible 60-yos in the world.

[Els]

 

- IMO too tuned in to technology - can use a cell phone but can't rewire a junction box, change a faucet stem, shingle a roof, clean the gutters, change the oil on a lawmower, or get flowers or vegetables to grow

 

 

You do realize that in this day and age, not knowing how to use a cell phone would have a larger negative impact on someone than not being able to shingle a roof, right? Everything you mentioned is an occasional requirement that can easily be outsourced if you earn a decent paycheck (and lawns and flower gardens are in fact entirely optional). On the other hand, if we didn't know how to use a cell phone and weren't willing to learn, the SO and I would lose our jobs! Lots of jobs nowadays REQUIRE you to use a cell phone, computer, or other forms of technology.

[Mr. Lucky]

Old fuddy duddies have been complaining about young people since time began.

 

"A Progeny Yet More Corrupt" -

Horace, Book III of Odes, circa 20 BC

 

Sounds like you've got enough overtime happening there to justify another staff member. Or contractor. Why ask overtime of the staff when you could offer another person a job?

 

I'd guess these are salaried employees, which, in some cases, in the US are exempt from overtime. In many companies the "workweek" for such employees is 50-55 hours a week, if not more.

 

When I point out an instance of the millennial couple at the table next to ours both staring at their phone, my wife is quick to say they only have to meet their own standards for companionship, not ours. I hate it when she's right ...

 

Mr. Lucky

[Els]

"A Progeny Yet More Corrupt" -

 

 

When I point out an instance of the millennial couple at the table next to ours both staring at their phone, my wife is quick to say they only have to meet their own standards for companionship, not ours. I hate it when she's right

 

 

But how is this any different from the older couples who sit across the table at breakfast or in a cafe together, each reading their own book or newspaper? Do people need to fill every single moment together with conversation, in order for time spent together to be meaningful?

 

 

Anything that anyone thinks "millennials" do is hardly new to human society as a whole. I'd never judge the older couples we always see in cafes - for all I know, just sitting next to each other reading is something they've done together for years that bonds them. If they're both happy, that's all that matters. Not sure why replacing "book" with "phone" automatically affects your "standards for companionship"...

[nospam99]

You do realize that in this day and age, not knowing how to use a cell phone would have a larger negative impact on someone than not being able to shingle a roof, right? Everything you mentioned is an occasional requirement that can easily be outsourced if you earn a decent paycheck (and lawns and flower gardens are in fact entirely optional). On the other hand, if we didn't know how to use a cell phone and weren't willing to learn, the SO and I would lose our jobs! Lots of jobs nowadays REQUIRE you to use a cell phone, computer, or other forms of technology.

 

You or I could probably teach almost any 7 y/o to use a cell phone in 5 minutes (even if we could find one that didn't already know). And there is little (direct) risk of death or personal injury in using that cell phone. The practical tasks I listed in contrast both involve risk (except the gardening) and require some knowledge of 'how things work'. My criticism of many milllennials is that they live so much in the virtual world that they have little understanding of how the mundane requirements of food and shelter are satisfied and could care less - 'can easily be outsourced'. I see 21st century US society well on the road to Idiocracy (2006 film).

[Mr. Lucky]

I'd never judge the older couples we always see in cafes - for all I know, just sitting next to each other reading is something they've done together for years that bonds them. If they're both happy, that's all that matters. Not sure why replacing "book" with "phone" automatically affects your "standards for companionship"...

 

I see a much higher percentage of phone-preoccupied young people than I see book-toting older couples.

 

But to my point, I'm not the arbiter either way, up to them to decide how they want to spend their time together...

 

Mr. Lucky

[basil67]

You or I could probably teach almost any 7 y/o to use a cell phone in 5 minutes (even if we could find one that didn't already know). And there is little (direct) risk of death or personal injury in using that cell phone. The practical tasks I listed in contrast both involve risk (except the gardening) and require some knowledge of 'how things work'. My criticism of many milllennials is that they live so much in the virtual world that they have little understanding of how the mundane requirements of food and shelter are satisfied and could care less - 'can easily be outsourced'. I see 21st century US society well on the road to Idiocracy (2006 film).

 

I'm Gen X and I know both Gen Xers and babyboomers who can't do home maintenance. Or who try it and do a really bad job. I nearly have a conniption when my 56yo hubby wants to build something involving timber because I know it will end up rickety and out of square. But damn, he can build a fine piece of network infrastructure.

 

Also, outsourcing provides jobs. I'd rather keep a builder in work than have a rickety chicken coop.

[lana-banana]

We are married millennials with advanced degrees, steady good-paying jobs, well-diversified investment portfolios, and a mortgage as our only debt. My husband can do everything from electrical rewiring to car repair and home automation. He's also a tremendous cook. I am a great cook, baker, cleaner, and all-around organizational fanatic. We are told we're atypical for millennials but I think at our income bracket we are very ordinary and have lots of friends in the same boat.

 

The key to all this, of course, is the income. So many of our friends are facing enormous student loans, because the cost of college increased astronomically in our generation. (If I hear another Boomer talk about how they afforded college with a single job I am going to throw up. The costs aren't remotely equivalent.) My husband managed with scholarships and got out of school with minimal debt, while my parents paid for all my schooling. We would absolutely not have the advantages that we do otherwise. Many of our friends from college will never be able to afford a home or even a large car loan. Never mind those of us with health crises; medical bills can and do bankrupt a lot of us, even those with good backgrounds.

 

Millennials are skeptics by nature. We saw Bush v. Gore, 9/11 as teens and young adults, we saw the 2008 recession wipe out fortunes, we saw school shootings go from a once-in-a-generation calamity to an everyday affair. They saw the American dream of houses and Cadillacs and white picket fence as a smokescreen for corporate greed and consumerism.

I have friends with ample money that they prefer to keep in CDs and other absurdly conservative vehicles. Almost none of us buy new cars, not because we can't afford to, but cars aren't a status symbol anymore. They just take you where you need to go.

 

Of course upbringing is part of it. My dad was serious about concealing our wealth from us as kids; I didn't even know til my teens, and he instilled in all of us the value of hard work. My husband's father is a general contractor and he sppent his formative years learning how to shingle roofs, repair drywall and just about everything else. We are both quite self-sufficient. But again, we have the privilege of backgrounds that gave us everything we needed to succeed. Many others weren't nearly as lucky, and I don't begrudge them that.

[FMW]

My experience with millennial co-workers is that they are good workers and motivated, but they do like to toot their own horns on a regular basis

 

But as has been pointed out, every generation trash talks younger generations.

[Art_Critic]

Get off my lawn!!

[Mr. Lucky]

I'm Gen X and I know both Gen Xers and babyboomers who can't do home maintenance.

 

I don't find Gen Xers to be real different than Boomers in many of their values and approaches to interaction, they were the last gen before tech became part of people's lives at a very early age.

 

My concern for Millennials is based mostly on the unknown - there's not a lot of research on how having a smartphone integrated so thoroughly in your life and on your person for 5 or 6 decades affects you emotionally, sociologically or physiologically. It will be interesting to find out...

 

Mr. Lucky

[MuddyFootprints]

Are we using the census bureau dates for millennials?

 

I've got one who has launched exceptionally well, one who could almost be considered failure to launch, but not quite, and one who is still taking as much advantage of her youth as she should be.

 

There is some irresponsibility with the two younger ones, but damn. I didn't raise them to have the responsibilities I did at their age. On purpose.

[Haydn]

You do realize that in this day and age, not knowing how to use a cell phone would have a larger negative impact on someone than not being able to shingle a roof, right? Everything you mentioned is an occasional requirement that can easily be outsourced if you earn a decent paycheck (and lawns and flower gardens are in fact entirely optional). On the other hand, if we didn't know how to use a cell phone and weren't willing to learn, the SO and I would lose our jobs! Lots of jobs nowadays REQUIRE you to use a cell phone, computer, or other forms of technology.

 

I fixed the plumbing and did the decking, plus played with the junction box.

 

At the same time i never let go of my phone and got a new high score on Asphalt 9 Legends!

[Els]

You or I could probably teach almost any 7 y/o to use a cell phone in 5 minutes (even if we could find one that didn't already know). And there is little (direct) risk of death or personal injury in using that cell phone. The practical tasks I listed in contrast both involve risk (except the gardening) and require some knowledge of 'how things work'. My criticism of many milllennials is that they live so much in the virtual world that they have little understanding of how the mundane requirements of food and shelter are satisfied and could care less - 'can easily be outsourced'. I see 21st century US society well on the road to Idiocracy (2006 film).

 

 

I'm not sure how the bolded is supposed to prove superiority. Is it somehow commendable to risk death and personal injury in order to have a nice lawn or a beautifully-shingled roof that you made all by yourself? Perhaps it might be to you, but someone prioritizing differently is entirely within their rights to do so.

 

 

 

Yes, in this day and age most things CAN be outsourced. That is reality, not "the virtual world". It's called efficiency, and it's also called supporting the economy and the job market. If you don't believe in this, did you build the phone/computer that you are using to access LS by yourself? (Hint: I did. )

 

 

I feel sorry for anyone who is so close-minded that they think the sky is falling whenever anyone else does anything differently from them.

[Haydn]

I'm not sure how the bolded is supposed to prove superiority. Is it somehow commendable to risk death and personal injury in order to have a nice lawn or a beautifully-shingled roof that you made all by yourself? Perhaps it might be to you, but someone prioritizing differently is entirely within their rights to do so.

 

 

 

Yes, in this day and age most things CAN be outsourced. That is reality, not "the virtual world". It's called efficiency, and it's also called supporting the economy and the job market. If you don't believe in this, did you build the phone/computer that you are using to access LS by yourself? (Hint: I did. )

 

 

I feel sorry for anyone who is so close-minded that they think the sky is falling whenever anyone else does anything differently from them.

 

I send my daughters to do the rose bushes.....

[Els]

I see a much higher percentage of phone-preoccupied young people than I see book-toting older couples.

 

But to my point, I'm not the arbiter either way, up to them to decide how they want to spend their time together...

 

Mr. Lucky

 

 

Haha, could be a cultural thing. Where we live, cafes at brunch time are full of retired couples reading the newspapers or a book across each other. I think it's sweet that they can enjoy each others' companionship without needing to talk all the time.