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You were the Person of the Year in 2006, according to Time magazine.
In a starry-eyed preview of the then brand new world of social networking and user-generated content on YouTube, the magazine declared, “for seizing the reins of the global media, for founding and framing the new digital democracy, for working for nothing and beating the pros at their own game, TIME’s Person of the Year for 2006 is you.”
Ten years later, millennials – the generation that grew up with these me-centered technologies – are now being branded with terms like “entitled,” “self-centered” and “distracted.”
But are these signs of generational differences, or simply a difference in age and experience?
Although the economy millennials face (and the way they face it) is different than the that of the baby boomers, some “millennial woes” are simply part of growing up.
Life is not what it once was. Millennials entered a technology dependent world complete with a complex, symbiotic global financial system with a host of social justice issues to contend with. Uncertainty abound, they’ve learned to cope with the fast-paced environment that is the 21st century.
You know you look at the world differently than your parents when they talk about getting a job and working your way up the business ladder. You think, “Right, right after I pay off my $37,172 in debt. (That’s the national average for 2016, according to Student Loan Hero.) With compensation just above minimum wage, I’ll pay off my loans sometime in the next millennium.”
Low job certainty means that millennials are job-hopping more than other generations. A recent LinkedIn study estimated that the average millennial will have four jobs throughout his or her first 10 years in the workforce.
These trends inspire characterizations like, “Millennials are creative and free-wheeling. They want their work to be fulfilling – and on top of that, they know that a successful career (a.k.a. money) won’t make them happy.”
That’s fair enough. But these stereotypes can justify millennial tendencies that may not be so favorable – or so unique.
But then again, perhaps what is so refreshing about descriptions of millennials is that they sound so, well, fresh. Creativity, sociability, relaxed standards for business environments, the bravery to switch up careers when they’re not happy with their work – all these sound like they bring fresh young spirit to shake up the traditional workforce.
But though millennials certainly have much to offer, they have much to learn, as well. And some typical millennial habits sound like the tendencies of teenagers who still need to nail down their life plans for the future.
For example, a recent survey about millennials’ spending habits shows that many twentysomethings regularly succumb to impulse spending, even when they plan to save. The good news? They’re quick learners: Washington Post says they may be stashing more cash as their savings habits improve (and may exceed those of older generations).
They are also less trusting of banks and other traditional institutions, according to the Pew Research Center. (LinkedIn says they are fiscally conservative, though – or at least they intend to be. They’re just looking for new ways to save).
And though job-hopping or freelancing often prevents millennials from saving or investing their money, millennials intend to settle down into more traditional plans for their future after a few years – a house, a car, a picket fence, the whole middle-class enchilada.
Though the much-lauded emerging sharing economy has earned them the nickname of the “renter generation,” according to a Goldman Sachs report, “As Millennials enter their peak home-buying years, their reluctance to enter the housing market could change. The cohort’s sheer size, plus its desire to settle down in the future, could lead to a surge in home sales.”
But what if these free spirits’ saving potential – and, by implication, their investing and home-owning power – is just as breezy as their attitude toward life?
For Patrick Wright, a professor at the University of South Carolina, many definitions of millennials are simply describing young people in general: “From my standpoint, it’s not a generational thing. It’s actually a stage of life issue,” he tells LinkedIn.
In addition, research has shown that employment trends are consistent across age groups – the economy is changing the workforce for everyone. This suggests that economic and social trends are more encompassing than millennials and their biographers say they are.
If generational differences are just learning to grow up, then worrying economic and social trends are excusable. But if that’s ‘just what impulsive young adults do,’ then millennials may be building their futures with Peter Pan’s Lost Boys in Neverland.
No one likes to hear, “You’ll grow out of it.”
But if the current “me generation” is in the transition to adult life, they shouldn’t worry – their parents did, too.
