Generation Y in the workforce

This blog post really draws from reading chapter 9 of Stoller. In this article Carolyn Heilbrun highlights the topic of "Listening to the Young (er). It narrates a woman entering her seventh decade of life. Here she analyzes and evaluates the importance of recognizing the young and their role in society today.(Stoller, 2000, p. 90).  Overall, I thought the topic was refreshing. Often, we are so focused on our own lives. It was great to view how the old saw us instead of how we always saw them. Thus today's entry is focused on learning about my own generation. Sometimes, the best way to self-reflect and evaluate is to see how others view us as a generation. 

Some positive attributes generation y are often associated with are that we add value to the workplace because we are good at multitasking and are often willing to make themselves flexible and free on weekends. Because we are the ones who have had the biggest exposure to the new technology age, we know how to be tech savvy. We are the ones most updated with social media mediums. Because of our more free-exploring personalities, we like to explore our options instead of keeping in one job focus. After, reading these positive attributes, it really helped to highlight some of the positive aspects I have that I never really paid attention to before. So I thought this was a great way to gain exposure and learn more about who and what kind of personalities make up my generation today. (Mitchell, 2002)

However, it's not all good news. Many actually associate more negative connotations to our generation than positive. Actually it is known that the baby boomers and Generation Y have the most conflicts in the workplace. There are many residing factors that separate the two. First off, Gen Y just has a different set of work-life values than boomers. As indicated before, we are a generation of more free-spirit. Therefore, we really place great value on having a flexible schedule. This can get especially frustrating since boomers are the ones who prefer autonomy and they like to set strict, structures. On another level, generation y also has negative attitudes toward the boomers. We are often worried about the job market because many boomers delay their retirement. This exchange of different values and ideals show that this conflict is very two-sided. (Koeppel, 2011) In the next post, I'll be focusing on how to solve these generational differences especially in the workplace. 

1. Stoller, E. P., & Gibson, R. C. (2000). World of difference inequality in the aging experience. (3 ed., p. 144). Thousand Oaks: Pine Forge Press.

2. Koeppel, D. (2011).  Gen Y vs. Boomers: Workplace Conflicts heat up. Retrieved from http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2011/11/11/Gen-Y-vs-Boomers-Workplace-Conflict-Heats-Up.aspx#page1

3.  Mitchell, S. (2002). American generations: Who they are, how they live, what they think. Ithaca, NY: New Strategists Publications.