Selfish, narcissistic, entitled, lazy, affirmation needing, unprepared for life, and unrealistic!
I am here to talk with you about everyone’s favourite generation to complain about – the millennial.
I can appreciate the irony here; talking about my own generation, trying to convince you that we are not all narcissists.
When millenials entered into young adulthood, there was high unemployment and we were
told that secondary education was the path to a comfortable lifestyle. At the same time, there was the emergence of an unfettered access to technology… set up like this, of course millennials were going to have a rude awakening in store.
According to the National Institute of Health, narcissistic disorder has been diagnosed nearly three times more in millennials than those 65 or older. Who are millennials? There are varied accounts of what age range the millennial falls into. A conservative average puts millennials as those currently between the ages for 22 to 36. We are a group that is more educated than those before us, especially when you isolate to look specifically at the amount of women who have bachelors degrees and who are still working.
In the past, young people have been ill considered in elections due to low voter turn out. This can be true for millennials. We are inconsistent at showing up to vote; however, when we believe in a candidate, we are a force to be reckoned with. In 2019, we became the dominant voting block. Voter turnout increased by 20 percent in the last federal election which pushed Justin Trudeau to success. Similar to electoral loyalty, we also do not spend more than 2 years at a company unless that company is catering to millennial values.
I have given you a couple of adjectives for millennials, but I have another one for you – disappointed. Deloitte conducted a research study in 2018 on global millennials and their feelings on business. They found that millennials are disappointed in the leadership that exists. They tend to stay at companies where diversity, on the job learning, development and corporate responsibility are valued. We are pragmatists. We understand that businesses have a bottom line, but we expect that organizations pay fair wages, offer personal flexibility and growth while acting as ethical corporate citizens and furthering social causes. We champion diversity and a wide array of differences, and research shows that we prioritize safety, social equality and environmental sustainability. Personally, I cant think of anything less narcissistic than that.
Part of the narrative around entitlement is the desire for flexible work arrangements. Entitled, right? I disagree; I think its feminist. Flexible work arrangements allow families to have unique care arrangements and for women to pursue careers in ways that were not possible before. Further, it speaks to wellness and the fact that millennials value experience over materialistic things. For all of our time on Instagram, it is not about what brand we wear, but how we spend our time. Quality time is a value we learned from our parents – and it’s one that the innovative millennial has spun well by tying it into how we view work.
The millennial’s ability to innovate and collaborate is another trait which should be celebrated. We do not have the same opportunities as our parents in terms of buying cars or homes, and because more millennials live in the city than generations prior, its creating new challenges as we enter adulthood. I am proud to report that my cohort is that of innovators. We are the age of ride sharing, open source, crowd funding and information sharing. We create new opportunities and ways of doing things.
Let me leave you with this – if you are a boomer and you don’t know how to communicate with a millennial, remember – we may be phone addicted narcissists, but we LOVE to be connected. It’s pretty simple, just reach out.
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