Brilliant piece...absolutely brilliant.

You don't get it Suzie. "Know that if you weather the storm with your employer, you are likely to find great rewards when it is over." Ask the now "forty and fifty somethings" that loyally work at AIG, GM, Ford, Chrysler, Citigroup and Journal Sentinel about the '80 REO Speedwagon Song advice.

We are in a new age and a transition. The days of riding off into the sunset with you employer are gone. Your advice is outdated.
1. Retirement plans are going to be gone and should pretend they don't exist. The Big 3 showed the downfall of that. Benefits and perks are your only way to start saving personally for that future retirement.70% of the Gen Y respondents contribute to their 401(k) plan according to USA Today.
2. Don't apologize for working more efficiently. It is not the Generation Y's fault that the "fifty somethings" take 20 mins to open Outlook or the internet.
3. Gen Y knows how fast technology changes and understands competition earlier in their careers with how competitive education has been compared to their "fifty somethings."

Perhaps the Public Relations clients aren't coming in as fast as you would like -- no more Blue Horse?

Hey Mikal.
You spelled my name wrong.
- Susie

As a person who employs a staff of five people all under the age of 30, I've to concur with Susie that Entitlementitis is alive and well within Gen Y.

Over the years, I've combed through countless cover emails written like booty call text messages, resumes sent in WordPerfect, interviews and meetings repeatedly rescheduled for inane reasons (one young "professional" web developer literally canceled a meeting with me because it conflicted with a hair appointment! WTF?) and zero attention paid to professional etiquette (Hi, don't wear jeans and a screened t-shirt to a job interview). I have managed to put together a pretty good (and in a few cases, very good) staff, but I can't even count how many times I have walked behind an employee in time to glimpse them minimizing Facebook, Myspace, Twitter or Gchat. Sorry, that doesn't work for me, as I'm paying for your time during business hours. Tell your friends how much your job sucks over a beer. After 5.

Mikal, your sniffy superiority about understanding technology and competition better than folks older than you rings hollow for me. Competition? Seriously? Did you learn about it in business school? If so, did you learn that substantive adversaries show each other respect, at least in the tone of their communications?

As for technology, at 42 I still possess the greatest mastery of the hardware, software and web-based applications required to run my business, and sometimes spend entire days functioning as more of a help desk than a manager. Just because you can create a new Facebook group in no time flat does not mean you understand Technology, the global marketplace or what it takes to succeed in the adult world.

One final thought: I'm sorry you are bitter about your future lack of security and the accompanying non-opportunity to one day draw an employer-backed pension. I thought mine was the last generation to cry any tears over that lost ideal from the mid-20th century. For those playing along at home, Susie wasn't suggesting loyal employees would be rewarded with lifetime security, but simply with the opportunity to earn advancement. Maybe you didn't have time to read her words carefully, especially if you were skimming her blog while chatting up your girl and checking your stocks at the same time.

Jon Anne

P.S. My 65-year-old mother uploads videos from her Flip to YouTube and shares them with her same-age friends, though she still does not enjoy the digital cable remote and thinks Facebook is mostly a colossal time-waster. She prefers letters and phone calls.

Susie, point well taken.

To you Mikal, your idealism and blind faith in technology may appear to be reasonable, but unless you lived through the tech crash of 2000 (and other crashes before that) your faith in technology is misplaced.

Although you were probably too young to remember, there was a big debate during the tech run-up on whether it was better to invest in "clicks or bricks." My Father (who lived through the Depression) called me up one day and told me to sell all of my tech stock...he saw it all before in the various bubble crashes over the years. He sold his tech stock portfolio a few weeks before the crash. He saved his 401(k), and yes, that investment vehicle existed before Gen Y.

As a member of Gen X, I had faith in technology and kept the stock. I too believed that the world, and human nature, were in transition. However, I should have taken my Father's advice and invested in Krispy Kreme. I thought there was a new paradigm, but Adam Smith had other ideas.

Loyalty, thrift, hard work, flexibility and humility remain fundamental values. These are the values that will serve our youth the best. That is the point Susie was making.

Forget Gen Y Stereotypes

They're eager to take on additional responsibilities

January 12, 2009

The stereotype of Gen Y shirking responsibility in favor of "work-life balance" is a tired caricature, according to a survey reported in T&D magazine, published by the American Society for Training and Development. In fact, the youngest workers are often the most willing to go the extra mile when the economy tightens and jobs become less secure.

A higher percentage of Gen Y workers strive to be contributors, arriving earlier, working later, and taking on more extra responsibilities than their older peers, according to the results of a survey conducted by the staffing firm Randstad.

With a gloomy economic forecast as the backdrop, Randstad surveyed workers about their attitudes toward the workplace with an emphasis on their eagerness to obtain greater job security. When asked whether they'd arrive early and stay late, 48% of Gen Y workers said yes compared with 40% of Gen X and 29% of boomers.

"I was a bit surprised at how willing Gen Y was to stay late and take additional responsibilities," says Eric Buntin, managing director for Randstad. "Our earlier surveys indicated that work-life balance is so important to them."

Results were based on an online survey of more than 2,000 adults conducted when the economy began tumbling in August and September. Some of the ready-made analysis of Gen Y workers might be unfair, Buntin added, pointing out that their true nature in the office defies easy characterization. "Their level of commitment to work and their interest in learning is just as high as everyone else," he says.

Survey findings also show that only 50% of employees believe their boss is competent. What's more startling is that only 29% consider their boss a mentor, and a paltry 19% believe the boss is an advocate.

The low numbers, in part, are attributed to the changing dynamics of the workforce whereby managers are held to the same performance standards as staff. They must leverage technology to a greater degree, handle more administrative tasks, and meet performance goals.

Only 32% of employees report being asked for input and a dismal 30% believe they're rewarded for accomplishments. Managers are not consciously disregarding input from staff, they're simply too pressed for time to ask.

Organizations need to find a balance between the development needs of employees as it relates to their supervisors and the annual expectations placed on managers, adds Buntin.