Perhaps you read the New York Times article last week on Millennials and their limited job opportunities, entitled “American Dream Is Elusive for New Generation.” For a follower – such as myself – of this generation and what they mean for the workplace, it was pretty interesting.
The thrust of the article was the gloomy professional outlook for our newest generation of workers…or, perhaps more the point, NON-workers. As the Times article reports, “For young adults, the prospects in the workplace, even for the college-educated, have rarely been so bleak. Apart from the 14 percent who are unemployed and seeking work, as Scott Nicholson is [an unemployed Millennial profiled in the article], 23 percent are not even seeking a job, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The total, 37 percent, is the highest in more than three decades and a rate reminiscent of the 1930s.” It is long-established that youthful unemployment can significantly depress one’s lifetime earning potential, so this is not great news for all of these young adults, whether they are seeking work or not.
What is particularly interesting, though, is that their optimism is not seeming to wane. Today’s young adults were raised with very strong messaging about how great they are and how much opportunity awaits them – and it seems to have been internalized despite these difficult economic times. Most Millennials may have scaled back their expectations somewhat about the high-six-figure salary that awaits them, but it is not about whether or not they will get all the success they want, it is just about when. It seems that the tempering of realistic expectations translates to a slightly adjusted timeline, but not necessarily a change to the overarching plan. “[Scott’s brother] is earning $75,000 — a sum beyond Scott’s reach today, but not his expectations. ‘I worked hard through high school to get myself into the college I did,” Scott said, “and then I worked hard through college to graduate with the grades and degree that I did to position myself for a solid job.’”
These high expectations don’t come out of nowhere. The lifelong messaging has been quite strong and has pushed this generation to try new things, engage in many experiences, and see unlimited opportunity for their collective future. This sets a high standard, not just for them, but also for us in the organizations that they may strive to join. So what does this economic turn mean for us and the new employees? Here we have a generation of potential employees interesting in working, while the job options are limited, and yet they continue holding out for better options. What, if anything, does this call upon for us to do?
Most important in all of this, it seems to me, is that in many cases there are jobs to fill that may seem less interesting to Millennials and their passions, but we still want to attract these strong candidates. Many Millennials still hold out for the ideal job, or the closest thing, and lost sight of how one opportunity may lead to the next. As the New York Times wrote with regard to Scott Nicholson, “Rather than waste early years in dead-end work, he reasoned, he would hold out for a corporate position that would draw on his college training and put him, as he sees it, on the bottom rungs of a career ladder.” I think it is incumbent upon us to help elucidate the opportunities that may not be as clear…and then, by the way, we need to be true to our word and let them grow professionally in the ways that we have promised.
But I am really curious to know what others take on all of this is…? How do you all see the “perfect storm” of economic reality and Millennial hard-wired expectations for the future combining to perhaps create a cultural shift in the work world, or at least in your own organization? The landscape seems to be shifting under our feet all the time, and I wonder about all the little ways in which it is doing so.
Tagged as: Gen-Y, Millennials, Rachel I. Reiser, unemployed
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7/15/2010
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