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Ryan Healy graduated Penn State University in the Spring of 2006. He recently left his consulting position to start 
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Most of the questions I get from Human Resources and Recruiting professionals about Generation Y are the same. They are all about why this generation expects to get so much so fast, why we feel entitled to flexibility, why we think we deserve high pay immediately, and so forth. The thing that surprises me every time is that it’s not the Baby Boomers who are so upset with Gen Y, it’s the Gen Xers. The more I pay attention, the more obvious it is that it’s the Gen Xers who think we’re just lazy, entitled Millennials.
It’s one of my jobs to know the generation gap, so I checked out the cover story from a 1997 issue of TIME called, “Great Xpectations.” Here’s a key quote:
. . . more and more (Gen Xers) are prowling tirelessly for the better deal, hunting down opportunities that will free them from the career imprisonment that confined their parents. They are flocking to technology start-ups, founding small businesses and even taking up causes–all in their own way.
It sounds like both Gen X and Gen Y want the same thing! The problem is that Generation X did not get what they asked for, and Generation Y is seemingly being catered to like we are owed something. After reading the TIME piece, I can understand better Gen X’s frustration. But I think it’s time for us all, X and Y, to move forward, together.
So, here are 3 reasons Generation Y can and will pick up where Generation X left off and make the workplace better for us all.
Y Has Better Demographics
Generation X was simply too small to force any kind of change. There are about 50 million Gen Xers in the United States compared to nearly 76 million baby boomers and 77 million Millennials. When Gen Xers graduated college, the jobs were not there. With only 50 million people to fill the positions, and plenty of boomers around to fill the middle management jobs, companies had their pick of candidates. Employers took advantage by hiring only the top candidates and paying them as little as possible.
Generation Y is 50% bigger than Generation X, and with Xers dropping out of the workforce to take care of their children, employees, not management, have the power and even a recession won’t slow down the job market. Generation Y has the same confidence, the same ambition and the same savviness as Generation X had in their twenties, but the demographics are in Gen Y’s favor. Y can ask for change and actually get it.
Y Has Better Technology
Generation X came of age when the internet was just coming into common, public use. There were great new technologies and plenty of opportunities to strike it rich in Silicon Valley, much like there are today. But the 90’s were still a time of traditional media and marketing to the masses. So if you wanted to make your voice heard, you had to pay thousands for a TV commercial or somehow become a celebrity. Today, anyone with a bad job can start a blog and tell the world why work should be better. Plus, where there was no easy way to create a collective Gen X voice, the Web is now all about community. And Generation Y embraces the idea of community like no other generation.
Y Has Better Teamwork
Generation Y is the ultimate “team” generation. Despite what the media says, it’s not about us versus the rest of you. It’s about how can we all work together? How can we all be happy?
We’re not competing now and we never were competing with the Baby Boomers. We’re the entry level grunts and they’re the big shots in the corner office. We don’t threaten their jobs and they don’t make us work long hours because we don’t report to them. But Gen X hated, and still hates, the Boomers. It makes sense. The baby boomers were directly managing the Gen Xers, and because of the demographics I pointed out above, the Gen Xers had to work the long hours or risk being fired and (easily) replaced.
Generation Y escapes the bitterness toward Gen X, or toward any other generation. We know we’re lucky to be joining the workforce as Boomers leave and Gen Xers can’t fill all of their shoes, but it’s not about me versus you, and it’s not about Gen Y being all that different from any other Generation.
So my message to Generation X is: let’s forget the past and all hop on the bandwagon. We can make work a great place to be, and we can do it together.
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Ryan, Ryan, Ryan.
Okay, I have two main points to argue today. #1) You get more flies with honey than vinegar. If you tell someone how much better you are than them and then say, “but can’t we just get along?” you are not going to get very far.
The second point is: Gen Xers did get what they wanted.
Gen Xers made more money at a younger than the Babyboomers: In 2005, Gen Xers average income: $45,080; In 1990, Babyboomers average income: $41,025 (same age group, adjusted for inflation).
Gen X is the most educated generation to date. In 2002, 56% of 25-34 years olds had attended at least some college, in 1990 45% did. (Sure, a lot of Millenials are still in middle school, but we’re talking about today).
Gen Xers bought homes sooner. 47% of 25-34 years olds owned a home in 2003 compared to 43% in 1990.
Now, I also have a few subpoints:
Y may have better demographics, but how many of you are in the workforce now? There is a lot of potential there - but we have a few more years for it all to play out.
Technology: I could argue that Xers have the advantage of knowing the evolution of the Net. They are the bridge between the Boomers and the Millenials.
Teamwork: Millenials have worked in teams since Kindergarten. Is it an advantage. But working is not always a team sport.
Lastly, I wrote an article about 6 or 7 years ago regarding how great Gen Xers were and I got nailed by my readers. What I have learned since then is that even Boomers have feelings and people who are older than you have a historical perspective that you don’t.
Oh, and for the record, I think Millennials will revolutionize the American workworld - but I think the Xers will be the mentors who light the way for them.
Ryan, great thoughts. I am an Xer and am working to learn more about generational issues in the workplace. It is refreshing to see your positive and constructive take on Gen Y. I seem to read a lot more commentary with a “here’s how to deal with THEM” approach. Good stuff.
Sounds about right to me. One point of disagreement, though. GenX was in some ways defined by the way it used the new technologies of the time (desktop publishing, digital audio and video, low-cost CD production, video games) to create communities. In the 80s and 90s, GenX culture was independent rock, hip-hop, rave/techno, ‘zines, alternative comix, public access TV, and no-budget cinema — all of which would not have been possible without the increasing power and diminishing cost of digital technology. The tools and our ability to use them allowed us to build alternatives to mass-media that reflected our tastes and values, which seemed pretty important at the time. A few people even got rich and famous doing it. It wasn’t quite as easy before the Internet, but it was certainly global (I travelled a lot in the 80s and 90s and found GenX enclaves everywhere, all into the same kinds of stuff) and very communal. Networks have made distribution and promotion easier and cheaper. That’s about the only real difference.
Loved your article. This topic is always interesting, and I read what I can. I’m a Boomer (will turn 50 this year) and I have a GenX boss (early 30’s), and I manage a staff that range from Boomers to borderline Millennials. I have 2 children B/G, both Gen X. I absolutely love all of the differences that each bring to their work. It’s what keeps me coming back every day. It is pure joy and I love the life-long learning experience! I embrace it! I count it a privilege to work with them all. I find with all, common threads (which are foremost in thought while hiring) a desire to serve, forgive, have fun, have impeccable integrity, and a strong desire to keep moving forward. And so, these are some of the qualities which transcend age and the generational differences… I love it! Always will.
I guess I have to dispute this point: “The problem is that Generation X did not get what they asked for, and Generation Y is seemingly being catered to like we are owed something.” I just don’t see Generation Y being catered to and getting what they want, not in any widespread way. Sure, there are always examples of it, but I don’t think it’s the trend. Most of the GenY’ers I see are paying their dues and learning the same lessons everyone else learns.
Great thoughts, I think overall you are pretty on target. Being a GenX’er and a recruiter who does a lot of research on this topic, I think you are right about GenX didn’t get what they wanted, in may ways. I’m a little confused about what our friend GenXpert says about GenX’ers getting what they wanted, I don’t actually see a point there, but here’s my concern on his bullets:
First, I don’t think siting statistics about generational population is putting down Gen X - most of what you say here has been said before and we mostly accept it.
Yes, GenX’ers are more educated - only because GenY is not old enough to have statistics on post graduate education. Moot.
Yes, GenX’ers bought homes earlier than GenY’ers - we grew up being told by boomer parents buy a house as soon as you can! Its an investment! So we did. And now we are watching those McMansion mortgages kill us slowly. We didn’t live as freely early in our post-college lives as GenY has, we were told to be serious! Get a job! Settle down! And that is why more recently we are seeing more and more of the GenX’ers jump the corporate career ship and focus more on parenting and personal goals. Its called having our cake and eating it too - many GenX’ers wish we had rented longer and had more fun working and playing before settling down and starting families, now that we watch GenY do just that.
We were not team builders - we were told to be LEADERS, not team members. Totally different. Working will be a team sport in the future - as soon as boomer management is gone and more companies put millennials into management roles because there aren’t enought X’ers to go around. Just you watch.
I may have graduated college in the nineties, but I am on board with the shift that will happen as GenY’ers take center stage in the workforce. It can’t be ignored.
I gotta side with GenerationXpert on this one. I also believe Gen Y has an unbelievable opportunity, but only time will tell what they are able to do with it. Let’s hold off anointing them the greatest gen ever for a few years.
One other note; while the job market and economy have been kind to Gen Y so far, with a looming recession, this may very well change. Add to that the fact that many Boomers are going to hold off on retirement and things could get really interesting. Let’s see what Gen Y does with a little adversity in the job market.
Ryan, I really liked this article. Of course you’re going to leave some of us GenX-ers wondering if you’re just politely taking shots at us, and I can’t say I agree with all of your analyses (or even your facts), but I do think you make some strong points.
I wonder whether some of the GenX/GenY tension you describe is simple jealousy because we (GenX) are no longer the young know-it-all renegades with chips on our shoulders and a better idea. GenY gets to be that demographic now. (I suspect that GenY will understand that sentiment better when GenZ comes along with an even better better idea.)
There is one thing I’d like to see pursued a bit further, though. You suggest that GenX can join GenY on “the bandwagon” and make work a great place to be. But I’m unsure that GenY’s ideal workplace is the same place as GenX’s ideal workplace. Work/life balance and flexibility are noble goals, and they seem to be a strong GenY interest, but that’s not to imply that GenY thought of it; the groundwork there has been steadily laid over the last two decades (at least). What else does GenY want that GenX can support?
@ Scott Williamson: I appreciate your point about the Boomers, and how they’re not retiring in the droves once anticipated. The War for Talent may be on, but I’m not sure anybody realized that the Boomers can’t be counted out just yet. They’re still on the job and choosing up sides.
Thanks for all the comments.
I’m actually surprised that anyone thinks I’m taking shots at Gen X here. Im simply pointing out the fact that Gen X got the short end of the stick on this one. Im also saying that just because Gen X lived through the bad job markets and long hours, it doesn’t mean that Gen Y now should “pay for it” which is the impression I get from people when I speak.
Generation Y is definitely not getting everything we ask for. However, the fact that there is so much talk about the new generation and we have managed to stay in the media and continue to create the conversation leads me to believe that we’re making waves. Companies like Deloitte, E&Y, Best Buy etc. are all trying to figure out how to attract and retain 22 year olds. This didn’t happen in the past - they were a dime a dozen.
What it really comes down to is Gen Y doesn’t want to suffer through 40 years of work, we want to enjoy 40 years of work. I can’t be sure, but I think everyone is looking for the same thing.
-Ryan
I am going to disagree again! Sorry for being contrary. Every new generation gets the media hype and companies wringing their hands about how best to attract them and manage them — GenX did too, and I think this is pretty typical, or at least it has been for the last few generations anyway. (Can’t speak for anything before that, but maybe someone older than me can.)
Ask a Manager has said it better than I could have, and before I could have!
PS Ryan is hott.
Only reason I read this was because Penelope linked to in her blog - never realized you blogged either.
The only point I want to make is about your line “…a recession won’t slow down the job market.”
This may be true for the job market as a whole, but try telling that to folks in the financial sector. Being a Boomer, Gen Xer, or Gen Yer is irrelevant when you have the contraction occurring in the financial markets that we do now. Maybe the Gen Yers will rebound better, faster, etc…but it doesn’t take the pain of losing a job away.
And one more thing: It’s always easier when one is on the outside looking in - don’t forget to put yourself in other’s shoes on occasion.
Ryan,
I found this post from Penelope’s blog too, but yeah, you hit it on the head. Gen X is all about being short-changed. Our early careers sucked, because there were no jobs. Where I was, the early 90s were a recession, and everyone I went to university with was underemployed for a while. So yeah, it bites to watch Gen Y, now in a job-seeker’s dream labour market, get everything they want. But now is when we take revenge, because you might have the numbers, but we have the experience.
You, Gen Y, need us, Gen X, to bring seniority, management skills, communications skills (have you seen the quality of writing coming from your generation? TXTng ZNt Riting.), and mentoring. We know what all those things are to you because we had them in spades. In fact, it’s the thing baby boomers gave us over and over in the job world — they were so omni-present that we were only recently able to rise to “senior” ranks and show our stuff.
You’ve got to check out Linda Duxbury from Carleton University and hear what she has to say about the differences between generations at work. I’ve blogged a bit about her — check out this post at 40-nowwhat.blogspot.com/2008/01/gen-x-short-changed-by-demography.html for some links.
Carla
Ryan,
I agree with all of your bullet points except the third. While I have been impressed with the team spirit of some Gen-Y’ers I know, more often than not it seems like the generation is full of self-important people who wouldn’t stop to help someone if their life depended on it. Maybe it’s just been my experiences and there is a much larger, more team-oriented group of 20-somethings out there.
For the record, I myself am on the cusp of Gen X and Gen Y.
Funny, but being Gen X who works with lots of Gen Y I don’t really see much of a divide, conflict, or any of that along the lines discussed by others. The biggest “divide” in how people relate to each other that I see is kids/no kids - and that spans all generations, including Boomers. There are also differing degrees of “corporatism” (e.g., people who sit in their chairs all day vs. those of us who don’t), but again that spans all generations.
And as to career experiences, I certainly chewed enough dirt in the early 90’s (and in ‘01-’02 for that matter) that I don’t really wish any of that on anybody else. Life has enough bad times as it is.
Nice post Ryan, I think the generational observations are on target (another reader from P’s link).
Gen X or Gen Y, I think the expectations of the workplace are pretty closely matched, the challenge is a Baby boomers are financially unable to leave the workforce. Boomers have this title and claim of challenging the establishment, protesting, and free love. Somewhere in the 70’s they transitioned to the real ‘Me’ generation settling in quite fat and happy at the top of the food chain. The boomers created the corner office lust and the luxury car lease programs. A generational hierarchy has been established by the boomers who have realized how poorly they have treated the generation before them, and now see X and Y in the rear view mirror and are holding on for dear life.
I think generation Y finally has the power (volume) to force real change in the workplace, where as gen X did(does) not. The irony is that boomers who think of themselves as revolutionaries (is that Dennis Hopper in an IRA ad?, what’s next Arlo Guthrie pimping Medicare plan D?) but their kids, Y, will be the true change agents.
I think that Y and boomers have more in common than Y and Xers. Xers have more in common with the “silent generation”.
I say this because both boomers and Y have a matching trait; Idealism- they think that they can (or could) change/ save a world as faced with very similar conditions/ frustrations (e.g. war, environmental impacts, and consumerism). X has learned that change is an act not an idea.
The difference is that Yers have been told since kindergarten that they can do anything (possibly the source of their idealism). Xers were taught how to “do anything” and were expected to execute in school and at work. That pragmatism and “results” orientation defines X is the source of X’s frustration with Y.
As both an educator and manager of Y I can say that the millennial generation expects, too often, to be shown how to do things and craves praise over real results. That leaves a huge gap in actually creating and executing concrete individual results. This maybe why Y have a preference for team tasks and why I find they suffer from the same “mass think” and susceptibility to sloganeering that boomers exhibit (Obama’s message appeals to which groups?)
The web/ technology has only exacerbated mass think among Y. Strangely, this allowed for Warhol’s’ (a boomer) “15 minutes of fame” promise to be played out in the form of a shockingly mediocre “blogoshpere” in which original production is limited to a scant 7% of web visitors (no offense to this blog). The rest is copied, amended, and linked-to content.
Don’t get me wrong. Xers suffer from some debilitating traits; they can be ruthless, cynical (as in this post?), micro-managers. But I also find X to be intrinsically motivated, goal seeking and detail oriented due, in no small part, to the angst generated by trying to get ahead in the late 80’s and early 90’s.
I think you will see, as X moves into higher management roles that Y will have to prove that they can perform to X’s standards and on their own. That dynamic will continue to be a source of friction.
Who’s catering to Gen Y? We had a Gen Y employee who made laughable demands after only 2 months of menial work, so we just opened the door and said nice working with you… good luck with that.
I like your website and blog Ryan. I like the way you encourage all generations to understand each other and see things from the others perspecitve. Bravo. I come across many people from all generations who struggle to understand the others, your blog is so helpful on this.
I’m not sure that this Gen Y expectation to be catered to will actually pan out for the mass majority of this early wave (or least the ones in the workforce now who are not super talented) over the long term. It may be that attitudes will change over time and this sense of entitlement will become more acceptable, but I work in an organization where social capital and reputation make or break one’s career and I have seen one new (typically Gen Y) employee in particular who just didn’t like what her management wanted her to do and went over her immediate supervisor’s head to complain without having built up any social capital or reputation. While the person won the immediate battle with their supervisor, she is now tainted with the reputation of being immature, having poor judgement, and *not* being a team player. I have already seen her quietly passed over for an opportunity she wanted…one that was left open for a period of time because it was decided that nobody was better than somebody with poor judgement. Although she seems to be doing well on the project she’s now working on, I suspect she’ll never really get full credit (as long as she works in a team, the perception will likely be that the other team members were helping/carry her) and I wonder if she’ll ever regain enough trust or respect to truly compete against her current peers, many of whom are less outwardly expectant, much less the new waves of up and comers.
I think the difference between Gen X and Y is not quite as discrete as some seem to believe, and it’s hardly surprising, because many of the younger members of the workforce today (say, 23-29 year olds) are considered by many commentators to be on the XY cusp, not clearly in either X or Y either by chronology, shared experience, or behaviour. The working cohort of clear Gen Y members is so small it’s not terribly useful for analytical purposes.
So I wonder, is this message a response to a tendency of some Gen X members classifying anyone younger than them that they don’t like as a Gen Y member?
I don’t agree that Gen-X wants to be “catered to”. Speaking for myself, I do not related to the group-centeredness that the Boomers and the Ys seem to share. Not for me the “praise” from my superiors or the “First Friday” socializing! Hand me a laptop, give me my goals, and talk to me a few days before the deadline.