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Millennials

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Background

The term Generation Y first appeared in an August 1993 magazine AD Age editorial to describe those children born between 1981–1995.[1] The scope of the term has changed greatly since then, to include, in many cases, anyone born as early as 1976 and late as 2000. There is still no precise definition of years, some theorists also place a cusp generation MTV generation between X and Y, 1975–1987.

Use of the term Generation Y (often shortened to Gen Y or Ygen or Gyen) to describe any cohort of individuals is controversial for a variety of reasons. "Generation Y" alludes to a succession from "Generation X", a term which was originally coined as a pejorative label.

While Generation Y alludes to that cohort's successive relationship to Generation X, the term Echo Boomers is used to allude to the generation's close tie to the primary childbearing years of Baby Boomers; the term Second Baby Boom is also used in this way and to denote the population expansion that Generation Y represents. The terms Millennials and Internet generation ("iGen") are attempts to give the Gen Y cohort more independent names that are tied with key events and cultural trends that are strongly associated with the generation. No single term is the "correct" term to describe members of this generation.

Generation Y are primarily children of the Baby boomers and Generation Jones, though some are children of older Gen X adults. Because of this, there is a perceived tendency to share social views with the Boomers and culture with Gen X, who serve chiefly as their 'older cousins' or even older siblings. The actual “Echo Boom” was a five year span between 1989 and 1993 when for the first time since 1964, the number of live births reached over four million. Previously, even the rate of 1965 (3.76 million) was not reached until 1985. Also, the birthrate of 1971 (17.2%) has yet to be reached according to the 2000 census.[2]

A notable demographic shift should begin to occur in 2011 when the oldest Baby Boomers (b. 1946) hit the United States' legal retirement age of 65. As Boomers retire, more members of Generation X will be expected to take roles in middle and upper management and the large membership of Generation Y should take up positions in the lower half of the workforce, a process which could have possibly begun since some definitions have members of Gen Y in their late 20s.[citation needed]

Names

• Generation Y
• Generation WHY
• Generation Next
• Nexers
• Millenniums
• Digital Generation
• Echo Boomers
• Boomlets
• I Generation
• Indigo Generation
• Net Generation
• Netizens
• Gaming Generation [3]
• The Thumb Generation [4]
• Generation Me[5]

Career and the workplace

According to the book Millennial Leaders: Success Stories From Today’s Most Brilliant Generation Y Leaders: [6], Dr. Carolyn Martin, a principal with RainMaker Thinking Inc., says that one of the most significant changes in the workplace that will affect the way Generation Y approaches work is job security. [7]Gen Y’s success will be increasingly linked to their ability to acquire as wide a variety of marketable skills that they can as they move about in their career(s).

As of 2007,[8]there are more pronounced generational gaps in communications styles and job expectations in the workplace. Titled “Gen Y at Work,” the survey was conducted from June 1 to June 13, 2007 among 2,546 hiring managers and Human Resource professionals across all industries.

Nearly half (49 percent) of employers surveyed said the biggest gap in communication styles between Generation Y workers (employees 29 years old or younger) and workers older than they are is that Gen Y workers communicate more through technology than in person. Another one-in-four (25 percent) say they have a different frame of reference, especially in terms of pop culture.

In terms of job expectations, 87 percent of all hiring managers and HR professionals say some or most Gen Y workers feel more entitled in terms of compensation, benefits and career advancement than older generations. Seventy-three percent of hiring managers and HR professionals ages 25 to 29 share this sentiment. Employers provided the following examples:

  • 74 percent of employers say Gen Y workers expect to be paid more
  • 61 percent say Gen Y workers expect to have flexible work schedules
  • 56 percent say Gen Y workers expect to be promoted within a year
  • 50 percent say Gen Y workers expect to have more vacation or personal time
  • 37 percent say Gen Y workers expect to have access to state-of-the-art technology

Over half (55 percent) of employers over the age of 35 feel Gen Y workers have a more difficult time taking direction or responding to authority than other generations of workers.

“Generation Y workers are an important segment of the workforce and literally the future of companies and organizations,” said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of Human Resources for CareerBuilder.com. “They grew up in a technology-driven world where standards and norms have changed and often operate under different perspectives than older co-workers. As companies cultures evolve with each generation, you see all workers benefiting from a variety of viewpoints and work styles.”

Fifteen percent of employers said they changed or implemented new policies or programs to accommodate Gen Y workers * changes, Haefner points out, that would have likely benefited workers of all ages. Examples include:

  • More flexible work schedules (57 percent);
  • More recognition programs (33 percent);
  • More access to state-of-the-art technology (26 percent);
  • Increased salaries and bonuses (26 percent);
  • More ongoing education programs (24 percent);
  • Paying for cell phones, blackberries, etc. (20 percent);
  • More telecommuting options (18 percent);
  • More vacation time (11 percent).

Eighty-one percent of 18- to 25-year-olds surveyed a Pew Research Center poll[9] said getting rich is their generation's most important or second-most-important life goal; 51% said the same about being famous.

Determination

Dates that define a person belonging to Generation X have also been disputed. Others have suggested that such regional restrictions of use are unnecessary in the ever globalizing world.

Generations are not defined by formal process, but rather by demographers, the media, popular culture, market researchers, and by members of the generation themselves. For instance, while the periodical American Demographics typically uses 1976 to demarcate the start of Generation Y, demographers Howe and Strauss have consistently used "the High School class of 2000", or those born in 1982 as their demarcation. While many possible years are used as the endpoint of Generation Y, the term is almost never applied to current infants. Because of the flexible nature of such demographic terms, two people of the same birth year can identify as either Generation X, Y, or something that follows Y, such as the New Silent Generation and neither is wrong.

Numerous alternative terms (such as "millennials" in the popular press in the United States) have been coined to describe subjects of the cohort.

As the term "Generation X" was originally coined to describe the post Baby Boomer generation in the United Kingdom [10] (and later adapted to describe the same generation in the United States and Canada), some use "Generation Y" only to refer to Americans, Canadians, and other Anglophone people who were born after Generation X. If the years 1978–2000 are used, as is common in market research, then the size of Generation Y in the United States is approximately 76 million.[11]

Geographical choices

According to an interview [12] with Dr. Rebecca Ryan and Generation Consulting's Handprinting System [13], there are seven indices that prove to make cities "cool" for Generation Y. Cities included in the study are:Nashville, Milwaukee, Oswego County (NY), Birmingham, Charlotte, Tulsa, Brevard County (FL), Iowa, Vermont, Canton (OH), Akron, and the Illinois-Quad Cities. The seven indices are:

1) Vitality. This is the community’s commitment to the environment.
2) Earning index. Does the city have a breadth of occupational options
3) Learning index. Great K-12 education and options for contuning ed are a must.
4) After hours index. How much is there to do after 5:00 p.m.?
5) Around town index. How easy is it to get around town and "stroll" from one place to the next without having to drive from location to location?
6) Cost of lifestyle. Can Gen Y afford to live in the city?
7) Social network. Does the city have a rich social fabric, including a diversity of backgrounds and cultures?
A copy of Next Generation Consulting's handprinting systesm can be located here: http://nextgenerationconsulting.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/consulting.handprinting_madison.

As with previous generations, many trends (and problems) began to surface as members of Generation Y come of age. [14]

  • Members of this generation are facing higher costs for higher education than previous generations.[15]
  • As members of Generation Y in the United States begin to enter colleges and universities in large numbers, some of their Baby Boomer parents are becoming helicopter parents. Many college advisers and administrators worry that this could have a negative effect on Generation Y's social progress, ego, and developing maturity.[16]
  • Many Gen Yers show a trend of interest in retro-oriented culture and the potential to revive it. Much of the rise in popularity is thought to be of Generation X's influence; i.e. youth being exposed as children to bands of the past generations, especially Baby Boomers [citation needed]
  • Members of Generation Y were found to be "demanding, impatient and bad at communicating" by a 2007 survey of business owners in Australia. The survey found that almost 70% of those surveyed found their Generation Y workers to be dissatisfying, with poor spelling and grammar and no understanding of appropriate corporate behaviors. However, the survey also showed most employers praised the energy and charisma of their Generation Y workers. [17]
  • Gen Y represents more than 70 million consumers in the United States. They earn a total annual income of about $211 billion spend approximately $172 billion per year** and considerably influence many adult consumer buying choices.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page). found that in a survey of 7,705 college students in the US:
  • 97% own a computer
  • 94% own a cell phone
  • 76% use Instant Messaging.
  • 15% of IM users are logged on 24 hours a day/7 days a week
  • 34% use websites as their primary source of news
  • 28% own a blog and 44% read blogs
  • 49% download music using peer-to-peer file sharing
  • 75% of college students have a Facebook account [18]
  • 60% own some type of portable music and/or video device such as an iPod.

Internet generation

Main article: Internet generation

In his book Growing Up Digital, business strategist and psychologist Don Tapscott coined the term "Net Generation" for the group, pointing at the significance of being the first to grow up immersed in a digital—and Internet—driven world. The NetGen research conducted by Don's company New Paradigm follows those individuals born between 1977 and 1997.


Famous members

Many young stars of TV and film these days are talked about daily in magazine articles around the world and have become well-known icons of their generation. (1977-1994)

See also

References

  1. ^ brandchannel: Dr. Pete Markiewicz: Who's filling Gen Y's shoe's? http://www.brandchannel.com/start1.asp?id=156
  2. ^ CDC report- Table 1-1. Live Births, Birth Rates, and Fertility Rates, by Race: United States,1909–2000
  3. ^ Who is Generation Y: Deloitte
  4. ^ Upward Mobility: BusinessWeek; October 4, 2007
  5. ^ Generation Me by Dr. Jean Twenge
  6. ^ Millennial Leaders: Success Stories From Today's Most Brilliant Generation Y Leaders; page 28)
  7. ^ Managing Generation Y by Carolyn A. Martin, Ph.D. and Bruce Tulgan
  8. ^ New CareerBuilder.com Study Reveals Significant Gap between Generation Y Workers and Co-Workers
  9. ^ USA Today article Generation Y's goal? Wealth and fame
  10. ^ Generation X by Charles Hamblett and Jane Deverson, published 1965
  11. ^ "Scenes from the Culture Clash" Fast Company January/February 2006, pp 73–77.
  12. ^ Millennial Leaders: Success Stories From Today's Most Brilliant Generation Y Leaders; pages 17-27)
  13. ^ Community Handprinting Wisconsin: Next Generation Consulting Research Project interview with 1000 Generation Y Leaders
  14. ^ http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,20587320-661,00.html
  15. ^ The Scapegoat Generation: America's War on Adolescents, Michael Males, 1996
  16. ^ The Wall Street Journal, 7/28/05.
  17. ^ http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/13/1978431.htm
  18. ^ Heidi Przybyla "Obama's `Youth Mojo' Sparks Student Activism, Fueling Campaign", Bloomberg.com (May 7,2007) http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&refer=home&sid=aJ4wSyFVOGx8

Film

Foreign

General

Preceded by
Generation X
(1958-1965) – (1975-1981) And/or MTV Generation
(1975-1985)
 Generation Y (Echo boomers)
(1976-81) – (1995-2001) 		Succeeded by
New Silent Generation
(1996-2002) – (pres.)
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