Millennials: A Generation Misunderstood

In the last few years, I have come across a myriad of blogs and news articles talking about the state of millennials in the workforce and how frustrated people are with this generation. millennials are lazy; millennials are self-entitled; millennials want everything for free. Blah blah, yadda yadda.

As a member of Gen Y myself, and being the curious human that I am, I decided to do some exploring on the topic and ended up coming across a statistic that really resonated with me. According to a study conducted by Gallup, 71% of millennials are either not engaged at work, or actively disengaged (meaning they are more or less out to damage their company).

Why the high dissatisfaction rate with this generation? What exactly do millennials want and why the heck does it even matter?

I remember when I first entered the workforce, I felt as if I didn’t have much of a choice when it came to my job. There was this overwhelming contention between finding the perfect path and the need to have a job to support myself. So I did what most do, I put most of my energy into the latter.

I just assumed this is what I was supposed to do. I followed the beaten path, which has served me okay over the years. Yet there has always been that nagging sensation that there’s so much more out there for me to explore and uncover.

The disappointing truth is that a majority still do take the road most traveled, the path that has been mapped out for them by preceding generations.

Don’t get me wrong. I can certainly empathize; it’s both safe and comfortable to follow the path where you can see the beginning, middle and end.

But something happens to those that settle for this route. As they get older, they gain perspective; we see it, time and time again. They look back and find themselves with that thirst unquenched feeling — the realization that much of their potential has gone untapped.

The problem is, these articles and blogs (most written by members of Generation X) are quick to criticize millennials as they base their sentiments and beliefs on the assumption that Gen Y’s are obligated to follow the same path they did, live by the same set of principles, and any deviation from this path is wrong.

However, what these older generations may fail to realize, is that a shift away from this ‘pragmatic’ mindset has already been set in motion.

As I was doing my research I then came across another statistic; 73% of millennials seek meaningful work at an organization with a mission they support, work that yields substantial personal presence. In simple terms, they seek purpose over a paycheck.

Millennials, along with younger generations have been able to see through the eyes of those that have come before them. They have gained the benefit of insight; seeing through their grandparents, parents or others, what happens when you settle for work and a life that is, with all due respect, mediocre. Especially when they know they are capable of creating so much more!

So is it wrong that millennials don’t want to spend 2000 or more hours a year sitting behind a desk working for a company whose mission they couldn’t care less about, pushing papers to pay off mountains of student debt, just to go home at the end of the day exhausted and unfulfilled?

Clearly as a member of this generation I may be a tad biased (and passionate about the subject) but I genuinely believe millennials are both vastly misunderstood and massively underestimated.

So no, it’s not a sense of entitlement. We aren’t lazy. We are just simply unwilling to settle just for the sake of settling down. We just want more, and are redefining more. We’ll take authentic, holistic happiness over the old traditional choices, be they the consistency of workaday middle management or the wealth that may come from total corporate dominion.

Maybe this sounds a bit too quixotic, after all that isn’t how things work right?

I don’t know about you, but in the midst of these chaotic, confusing times perhaps what we need most are ideas that are a tad unconventional, a little bit unrealistic, and a touch idealistic.

Wasn’t it Steve Jobs who said the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do?

I’m sure there’s one thing we can all agree on — millennials are certainly crazy.