The entitled stereotype of Gen-Y

Published by Hannah Seligson on July 31st, 2007 in Books, Employment, Work | 20 Comments

So if you haven't heard the words "entitlement" and Gen-Y" in the same sentence, you've obviously been working somewhere very far away, or living under a rock.

Researchers and career experts say that the ubiquity of job hopping, particularly for Gen-Y (those born after 1979), is partially being driven by their reluctance to painstakingly pay their dues.

This has given way to the coining of Gen-Y as "entitled," a nebulous term that I have always had trouble defining.

My best estimation of what people mean when they label someone as "entitled" is that they've had their first interaction with a 20something who waltzes in and inquires about applying for the marketing manager position that just opened up, when she has barely clocked six months on the job.

It's a sense that I deserve this, even though I haven't paid my dues to get it.

But would a guy who had the same chutzpah—I mean confidence—be characterized as a real "go-getter" or "entitled?"

Think about this way. Would legendary business leaders such as Stephen Schwarzman, the Chairman and co-founder of the Blackstone Group, Jack Welch, the former Chairman and CEO of General Electric, or Bill Gates, the Chairman and co-founder of Microsoft, be perceived as entitled or just confident if they were starting out in 2007?

But let's put gender aside for a moment and pay lip service to the fact that what has been labeled the Achilles' heel of Gen-Y might actually be beneficial for employers.

Research by Bharath M. Josiam, a University of North Texas associate professor in the School of Merchandising and Hospitality Management, found that while a previous generation may have felt that that promotions aren't worth the headaches or hassles, Gen-Y hospitality students believe the advantages of a job promotion outweigh the disadvantages

For employers, the storyline here only seems to read as positive — an aspiring, enthusiastic, hard-working crop of workers is at their fingertips.

"Employers should be heartened that (Gen-Y hospitality) students on the whole are not slackers," Josiam says. "They have a positive attitude toward work, a low level of promotion cynicism and a strong work ethic."

What's wrong with feeling entitled to a position that you worked hard for or intend to work very hard in? Isn't that what they just called "earned" or "ambitious" in previous generations?

Part of this post originally appeard on WomensWallStreet.com.