“Where did you get your shirt?” a classmate would inquire. “Oh, I have had this so long that I don't even remember where we bought it,” I would reply. Most children raised in single parent homes can remember buying their school clothes from a used clothing store, and most can remember lying when people asked them where they bought the item. Ashamed of the poverty of my family, I would lie when interrogated about the origin of my clothes. In recent times though, the mentality of buying clothes from thrift stores has changed and the connotation of thrift has been replaced with a sense of frugality. Today if a friend asked where I bought a certain item I would proudly proclaim, “The thrift store two dollars!” or “The clearance rack for five dollars!” The savings is more like a competition between friends, who is wearing the cutest items and has spent the least amount of money. Guest writer for CBS Money Watch, Alanna Peterkin, owner of Head Games Salon in Portland, Maine, expresses her frustration with hiring workers of Generation Y, in her experience Generation Y is over-privileged and does not enjoy working hard. Peterkin states that the previous generation is much more suitable to work hard, “When I get a 28-to-35-year-old applicant, I'm so psyched, because they tend to be far more dedicated to the job and willing to put in long hours.” Unlike Peterkin, I believe that Generation Y is not over privileged, but money conscious. The creation of this frugal generation can be attributed to many factors, one seeing our parents retire without efficient funds to support themselves, two being raised in an economic slump, and three for the love of the chase. The way Generation Y uses their money must first be accredited to their forefathe...
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...Jason, Sharon. “Generation Y Gets Involved.” USA Today. Gannett, 24 Oct. 2006. Web. 24 Feb. 2012.
Palmer, Kimberly. "Introduction: Meet the New Young Professional." Generation Earn: The Young Professional's Guide to Spending, Investing, and Giving Back. NY, New York: Ten Speed, The Random House, 2010. 1-5. Print.
Palmer, Kimberly. “Talking to Generation Y About the New Culture of Thrift.” Student Research Center. EBSCO Host, Mar. 2010. Web. 22 Feb. 2012
Palmer, Kimberly. "Why GenY Might Be Too Frugal: A New Book Suggests That a Fear of Debt Holds 20-somethings Back." - US News and World Report. US News, 2 Mar. 2011. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. (Kimberly reviews Not Quite Adults by Richard Settersten and Barbara Ray).
Peterkin, Alanna. "I Can't Find A Good Employee From Generation Y." CBS Money Watch (2010). CBSNews. CBS Interactive, 21 July 2010. Web. 12 Mar. 2012.
Since both authors can relate to both age groups, they have written this article to describe the reasons behind Gen Y’s characteristics and allow older generations a chance to understand their younger counterparts. The article is written not towards Gen Y but instead is written for their critics. Since the article allows readers inside the lives of Gen Y members, it is directed at people who do not already understand this generation and all it has to offer to the world. The authors’ knowledge of the criticisms that Gen Y faces allows them to portray their purpose to intended audiences. They do all of this while remaining mindful of older generations that work full time and live busy lives by breaking the article up with headings and subheadings that allow readers to read only sections at a
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.
Yasemin Besen-Cassino’s essay “Cool Stores, Bad Jobs” highlights why affluent teens get certain jobs. Many of the reasons she wrote about in the essay, I have seen while working at the movie theatre. Hiring managers will try to hire specific kinds of people; people that will fit in with the current employees. While being selective about hiring, the low starting wage offered deterred many, often more experienced, people from accepting the job. Lastly, work is seen as a place to hang out by some of the employees.
It appears that Generation Y is executing the wishes that other generations of workers subdue, and are subsequently portrayed as a vocal group by default. As a result of millennials’ demands, various companies are now beginning to conform to the ideas this generation presents. As such, new policies are being implemented,
The article “The Next Ruling Class: Meet the Organization Kid” by David Brooks, published by the Atlantic in 2001, presents a glistening, positive view of the merits of a select sample of young people in our society: highly privileged “millennials”. According to Brooks, these “future leaders” have lives which are highly organized, with time carefully choreographed to ensure future success in life. For example, today’s elite kids “are likely to spend their afternoons and weekends shuttling from one skill-enhancing activity to the next.” Millennials don’t hang out in neighborhood parks with buddies. Instead, they “lead lives that are structured, supervised, and stuffed with enrichment.”
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
Life for Millennials is not as easy as it has been said to be. According to Taylor Tepper, an editor of Money Magazine, when the Great Recession peaked in 2010, the large mass of Millennials graduating college were more vulnerable being that the unemployment rate among young adults peaked at 14% (Tepper). A Pew Research Center survey came to the conclusion that “Millennials are the first in the modern era to have higher levels of debt, poverty and unemployment, and lower levels of wealth and personal income than their two immediate predecessor generations had at the same time” (Tepper). In addition, David Bass, a Millennial himself and author of “The Millennial Generation Lacks a Strong Work Ethic,” states that the current employment rate for young adults is 55.3%, “the lowest rate since the end of World War Two” (Bass). These numbers do not tell it all, rather “a generation’s greatness is not determined by data; it’s determined by how they react to the challenges that befall them,” challenges that this generation does not fall short of
By 2025, about 75% of the American workforce will be made up of Generation Y workers, said Emily Matchar, author of “Why Your Office Needs More Bratty Millennials.” Generation Y, also known as millennials, are those who were born within the years 1982 and 1999. Time management has become a persistent issue for people in the United States because of the lack of flexibility in the workforce. Work is taking over people’s lives. The current generation of workers tend not to demand because of the fear of unemployment; jobs are scarce these days. Generation Y workers have shown that they will not accept today’s hierarchical workplace, on the contrary, they will begin to change the workplace to their likings.
Dykstra, Josh A. "Why Millennials Don't Want To Buy Stuff | Fast Company | Business +
Upon entering the workforce, this generation worked for organizations that had “clear lines of authority, strict assignment of responsibilities, rank based on seniority, and an implied work contract; they expected to work for the same company until retirement and valued job security and stability” (Fore, 2013). However, because this generation was often absorbed with the past, “technology represented an unpleasant change that required training and adjustment, as it affected both their work and personal lives” (Fore, 2013).
When the Baby Boomer generation was questioned about the newer generation, these words and phrases was often used: “slacker”, “lazy”, “has it easy”, “entitled”, “obsessed with their phones/internet/games” and “antisocial”. On the other hand, Millennials (or Generation Y) would say this about their older counterpart: “entitled”, “ruined it for those who followed”, “had it easier”, “narcissists”, “stubborn”, and “materialistic”. The reason for why the elders would see it that way is because they had to live without the quick solutions that teens have nowadays. This “elders bashing on the newer generation” isn’t uncommon, as seen by what was recovered from Aristotle’s and Plato’s time (Rampell 389). For Millennials, some of their tension comes from the fact that they will be the first generation earning less than previous generation for the same amount of work (Roos). Not only that, but the prices for land property, and college education, which is needed in many jobs nowadays, has skyrocketed compared to their parent’s and grandparent’s. Due to this wealth gap, it sparked a lot of tension between the generations, and this can be seen in smaller environments, such as in the
Wilkinson, M. H. "It's Just a Matter of Time: Twenty Somethings View Their Jobs Differently than Boomers." Utne Reader(May-June 1995): 66-67.
In his May 2013 editorial for Time Magazine, “Millennials: The Me Me Me Generation,” Joel Stein explains his viewpoint on millennials, defined as people born 1980 through 2000. Using an occasionally humorous tone, Stein summarizes the typical bleak view that older people have for the younger generation, before offering what he believes is closer to the truth. In the end, he decides that while millennials are not without their flaws and vices, a lot of the fears that older people are mostly due to the advanced technology that we are now dealing with. By the end of the article, it is my opinion that Stein makes a very fair summarization and is correct in his idea that to write off the entire generation is unfair towards younger people.