Professional Documents
Culture Documents
11/14/2017
Every generation has one, a label; given to them by previous generations and skeptical
individuals. In history, we talk about The Lost Generation, The Silent Generation, and The Baby Boomers.
Each generation brings change and adaptations to our communities and even to our country. Each
generation also produced new problems and solutions. So why are our predecessors so fixated on
labeling millennials as the worst generation? What made their generations so much better?
Some major criticism Millennials receive are that they are too demanding. That they want
affordable college, free healthcare, to work on bean bags and get free lunch. In Shannon Molloys
article, Weve raised Generation Hopeless: millennials who lack basic life and workplace skills. And its a
big issue, she describes how the newest generation is sorely lacking in basic life and workplace skills.
Molloy argues that because millennials spend more time on their phone, talking digitally, that they do
not have the communication skills necessary to work suitably in the workplace. In addition, the articles
presses the claim, that this generation is overly confident in their own abilities. They demand roles they
are not qualified for. Specifically, mid-level and leadership roles, these types of positions require time
and ability to work in confrontational settings. Which, because of the lack of communication skills,
In reality, Millennials are the hardest working generation. Companies have seen a rise in profit
for decades. In an article published by the NY Times, from 1973 to 2011, worker productivity grew 80
percent, while median hourly compensation, after inflation, grew by just one-eighth that amount,
according to the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal research group. And since 2000, productivity has
risen 23 percent while real hourly pay has essentially stagnated (Greenhouse). According to this article,
companies have been profiting off of a higher level of production while not paying their workers any
further compensation. This suggests adding more and more to your responsibilities as an employee will
not grant you higher pay. The startling fact that in the 1990s a single income household could afford to
buy a house and a car, without gifts from their parents, provide for the family and all with no degree.
Yet, Millennials, whom have dropped the teen pregnancy rates, attend more colleges, get better jobs
are those that still cannot afford to be homeowners. And the kicker is we blame ourselves. We think its
our fault that we cant get well-paying jobs to afford cost of living expenses. We work harder, we work
faster, we work more collaboratively and we still cant make the advances necessary for survival.
Opposers also state that Millennials want everything given to them from the government, that
they think the world owes them something. But the truth is, it is those same naysaying generations that
are getting social security benefits, the generation that got reduced housing, affordable education, and
cheaper health insurance. The millennials most likely will not see any social security benefits, so they will
have to rely heavily on 401Ks and retirement plans (all funded by ourselves). The costs of single family
homes have sky rocketed because investors have been purchasing all the property and our states and
banks would rather profit from these groups than help the American families. The facts are that more of
this generation has obtained higher education degrees, and are crippled in debt because of it. The cost
As seen in the chart below, education in 1976, for a public 4 yr. college the tuition and fees were
$2,600, todays cost of higher education is averaging $9,650 for a Bachelors Degree. Not to mention,
companies are not hiring fresh out of college students they also demand at least 5 years experience.
(The College Board)
Everyone is so busy pointing the finger at each other rather than holding our government and
these corporate companies accountable. Americas top 1% dont believe that their workers should be
credited with the gains they make. Our corporate world, is selfish and doesnt care whose backs they
work off of and what employees they have building their dreams. With companies holding values like
last one on, first to go. Its no wonder why our generation is distrusting of them. In addition to having
mass layoffs, they expect loyalty from their employees but offer none once a setback occurs. It doesnt
matter if youve been there a week or 25 years. If they dont feel youve been productive one quarter,
youre gone. Its things like this that make it so Millennials need to feel they make a difference, to feel
they are putting in to a company they can grow and advance in. Millennials want a collaborative and
The College Board. Trends in Higher Education. 2017. Chart. 24 September 2017.
<https://trends.collegeboard.org/college-pricing/figures-tables/tuition-and-fees-and-room-and-
board-over-time-1976-77_2016-17-selected-years>.