baddog, The "Millennials" Are Coming

[Barefootsies]

It's graduation time and once again we say "Stand back all bosses!" A new breed of American worker is about to attack everything you hold sacred: from giving orders, to your starched white shirt and tie. They are called, among other things, "millennials." There are about 80 million of them, born between 1980 and 1995, and they're rapidly taking over from the baby boomers who are now pushing 60.

They were raised by doting parents who told them they are special, played in little leagues with no winners or losers, or all winners. They are laden with trophies just for participating and they think your business-as-usual ethic is for the birds. And if you persist in the belief you can, take your job and shove it.

As correspondent Morley Safer first reported last November, corporate America is so unnerved by all this that companies like Merrill Lynch, Ernst & Young, and scores of others are hiring consultants to teach them how to deal with this generation that only takes "yes" for an answer.


The workplace has become a psychological battlefield and the millennials have the upper hand, because they are tech savvy, with every gadget imaginable almost becoming an extension of their bodies. They multitask, talk, walk, listen and type, and text. And their priorities are simple: they come first.

Just ask Marian Salzman, an ad agency executive who has been managing and tracking millennials since they entered the workforce.

"Some of them are the greatest generation. They're more hardworking. They have these tools to get things done," she explains. "They are enormously clever and resourceful. Some of the others are absolutely incorrigible. It's their way or the highway. The rest of us are old, redundant, should be retired. How dare we come in, anyone over 30. Not only can't be trusted, can't be counted upon to be, sort of, coherent."

Salzman says today's manager must be half shrink and half diplomat.

What are some of the do's and don'ts in speaking to the generation of young workers?

"You do have to speak to them a little bit like a therapist on television might speak to a patient," Salzman says, laughing. "You can't be harsh. You cannot tell them you're disappointed in them. You can't really ask them to live and breathe the company. Because they're living and breathing themselves and that keeps them very busy."

Faced with new employees who want to roll into work with their iPods and flip flops around noon, but still be CEO by Friday, companies are realizing that the era of the buttoned down exec happy to have a job is as dead as the three-Martini lunch.

"These young people will tell you what time their yoga class is and the day's work will be organized around the fact that they have this commitment. So you actually envy them. How wonderful it is to be young and have your priorities so clear. Flipside of it is how awful it is to be managing the extension, sort of, of the teenage babysitting pool," Salzman tells Safer.

All of which has led, as you'd expect, to a whole new industry -- or epidemic -- of consultants, experts they allege, in how to motivate, train and, yes, sometimes nanny the extraterrestrials who've taken over the workplace.

FULL STORY & VIDEO

[L-Pink]

So, the new generation of corporate grunts are arrogant, self centered and have no grasp on how competitive life really is? Haha .... good luck kids.

[Captain Kawaii]

Originally Posted by L-Pink

So, the new generation of corporate grunts are arrogant, self centered and have no grasp on how competitive life really is? Haha .... good luck kids.

You nailed it, LOL. I rent houses to college kids. Most have graduated, maybe, after leeching 100-140k$ off parents for 4 years and they score an 8$ hour job and think they've made it as long as they get a trophy.

Some may be good, or they seem to be crooked...The rest are a bunch of fuck ups. Good luck to them. lol.

[Barefootsies]

Originally Posted by L-Pink

So, the new generation of corporate grunts are arrogant, self centered and have no grasp on how competitive life really is? Haha .... good luck kids.

The show was interesting to say the least. Especially some of the view points of kids being interviewed and their expectations. While I am sure it's not all inclusive by any means, they have huge corporations giving business owners training on how to deal with that generation.

[baddog]

Originally Posted by L-Pink

So, the new generation of corporate grunts are arrogant, self centered and have no grasp on how competitive life really is? Haha .... good luck kids.

Sounds about right. Entitlement.

[ilnjscb]

The Unemployment Crisis Among Young People
May 17, 2011

Meghan O?Halloran was one of those who had her career derailed by the timing of her graduation.
She left Cornell University with a degree in architecture and six summers of internships at top firms in New York, Milan and London.

?I thought getting a job would be a snap,? she said.

But after graduating in December 2008, just as job losses in the economy were reaching a high point, she was confronted with a very cold reception into the labor force.

She followed her boyfriend to China for a year, and found architecture work plentiful in the building boom there. But when she returned home at the end of 2009, not much had improved, and no one was hiring.

?I?ve applied for temporary work,? she said. ?The answer is always the same, ?We wish we could hire you.??
She?s decided to leave behind her hopes for a career as an architect and has started her own business making custom fabric, carpets and furniture. (Good luck with that!)

More recent college graduates are moving back in with their parents after school as unemployment among young people is on the rise. The economic recession and slow recovery has made it difficult for young people to enter the work force, where job preference is given to those with more experience and skill under their belt. Many graduates are being forced to consider other alternatives to finding a job right away.

Low Employment Among Young People Corresponds With Increased Employment Among Seniors

According to the Wall Street Journal, the percentage of people under 25 who are employed has dropped to 45.1%, down seven percent since 2007. The unemployment rate among college graduates is only compounded by the fact that the oldest segment of the population is either remaining in the work force longer or trying to re-enter it. Due to the recent economic crisis, many older Americans simply cannot afford to retire yet, leading to an abnormally high employment rate among those over 55. Now both the oldest and youngest portions of the working populations are almost equally likely to be employed. (translation: screw these stupid brats, who cares if you know how to use facebook, let's get someone in here who knows how to work)

[Grapesoda]

Originally Posted by Barefootsies

The show was interesting to say the least. Especially some of the view points of kids being interviewed and their expectations. While I am sure it's not all inclusive by any means, they have huge corporations giving business owners training on how to deal with that generation.

try and hire an assistant (mean while all over the world people are staving, getting really pissed and totally desperate, looking at the US planning a big move)

[Barefootsies]

Originally Posted by bm bradley

try and hire an assistant

Just like you chief, I work with models.

I also have to hire assistants, programmers, designers, web hosting support staff (network admins), in addition to house cleaner, lawn boy, a person to plow the snow, etc..

The point being.... dealing with vetting quality people is a major hassle. You get better over time to some of the 'hot spots' in an interview to help weed out candidates. That being said, it is almost like a job to just interview people and test them to see if they can do the job as you need.

One of the hardest lessons to learn as a business owner is as follows. Most people's 100% work product/commitment/passion will barely equal your 50%. You simply have to learn to accept that and try and make it work to grow. You can't do it all as a one man show, and to scale you have to hire help. You just hope you get lucky and find a few good worker bees.

[Barefootsies]

Originally Posted by baddog

Sounds about right. Entitlement.

True dat fine sire.

[ilnjscb]

Originally Posted by Barefootsies

One of the hardest lessons to learn as a business owner is as follows. Most people's 100% work product/commitment/passion will barely equal your 50%. You simply have to learn to accept that and try and make it work to grow. You can't do it all as a one man show, and to scale you have to hire help. You just hope you get lucky and find a few good worker bees.

Goddamn is that true. 50% is lucky, 10% is average. The slightest weakness, you get walked on. Push just a little, you're an overbearing asshole. Let a woman get close, you become a 100hr/wk life coach. Let a man become important, he starts plotting to replace you.

[Agent 488]

media crap made up to justify their hours worked and sell shit to shitheads.

[Vendzilla]

I blame barney the dinosaur

[Si]

You can put it down to one thing and one thing only: Attitude

I fit into that category (age range), and I used to be very vocal at the company I used to work for when people weren't pulling their own weight.

Not sure wher the (wrong) attitude comes from but it pisses me off aswell.

[ilnjscb]

Originally Posted by Si

You can put it down to one thing and one thing only: Attitude

I fit into that category (age range), and I used to be very vocal at the company I used to work for when people weren't pulling their own weight.

Not sure wher the (wrong) attitude comes from but it pisses me off aswell.

Well, you'll be rich then because there are like 5 of you.

[Si]

Originally Posted by ilnjscb

Well, you'll be rich then because there are like 5 of you.

Working on it

[V_RocKs]

Umm... everyone I know from that generation sucks ass. They are very lazy. They feel entitled. They way over spend. They don't save for shit. They live with their parents. They avoid responsibility at all cost.


Going to be fun... I think I'll move out of the country...