"Make Way for Y Gens"

Except these aren’t your tame, line-up-and-follow-mother ducklings! They are young, independent, constantly connected, iPod-wearing, high-expectations, play by Y-rules, forget-delayed gratification workers flooding American business. There are 70M of them, born between '77 and '02. Most of their bosses are baby boomers, who took the long view that they would climb the ladder of corporate success gradually and follow the rules laid down from above.

Is this match made in heaven? Jason Dorsey addresses the angst of Gen Ys in his new book, "My Reality Check Bounced."

On the College Recruiter Blog, we hear that Gen Ys hate their jobs at a higher percentage than at any time in the survey's 20-year-history.

Many Gen Yers may hate their jobs, but they will ultimately change the way the workplace functions. With the labor shortage spurred by baby boomer retirement already begun, business will have to accomodate their new workers while Gen Yers themselves will need to make some adjustments. We hear about Gen Ys who bring their mothers to job interviews (as best friends not nannies) and parents being courted along with candidates by companies. Or CEOs lunching with new hires in a frontal assault on traditional hierarchy.

According to generation watchers, Gen Ys want meaning in work and in life and don't want to sacrifice either. Meanwhile, baby boomers are, oddly enough, looking to ease out of the hierarchy, do more of what makes them passionate, work on their own terms as contractors or small business people.

If creativity and innovation are the keys to US competitiveness abroad, we can expect a shot in the arm from Gen Yers and interesting synergies with their parents' generation, themselves forging "brand"-new worlds in un-retirement. So, make way for...??? I can't wait to see!

Comments

[Dan Schawbel]

I'm in Gen Y and I agree with many of your points. I try to stay opportunistic in all my ordeals and let that guide me. With the emergence of social media and the demand for freelancing, I don't think there will be much of a hierarchy in the future.

[JibberJobber Guy]

There is a lot of buzz about Gen Y - how to attract them, how to treat them, etc. Penelope Trunk's new book is an excellent resource on the issues surrounding Gen Y (and it's written for them... reading it gives a really good insight into the issues).

Seth Godin was in Salt Lake last week and someone asked him what he would tell a class of high school students. The first thing he said was "no one cares about you, so get over yourselves."

It is going to be interesting to see how this all plays out over the next few years!

Jason Alba
CEO - http://www.JibberJobber.com
BabyBoomer, GenX, GenY or whatever, it's all about relationships :)