Millennials

Who are the Millennials is a question that is perhaps very synonymous with numerous researchers as they seek to understand this generation of individuals better. In essence, the Millennials are also known as the Generation Y, which are the demographic cohort preceding the famous Generation X. However, there are no conclusive dates that indicate when Generation Y came into being as well as when it is expected to end. Most analysts tend to give a range between the start of the 1980s up to the 2000s (Taylor, 2014). Millennials are in some cases referred to as Echo Boomers, because of the tremendous rise in birth rates in the 1980s as well as into the 1990s. Millennials are primarily known to be children of famous baby boomers generation that is commonly referred to as the Gen Xers. However, when it comes to the 20th century trend of smaller families especially in developed and prosperous countries that appear to be on the rise, the relative influence as a result of the baby boom echo was largely much less pronounced than in the case of the original boom (Singh, Bhandarker & Rai, 2012). From the perspective of their characteristics, millennial character traits tend to vary considerably in terms of economic, religious as well as social conditions. This is mainly marked by a rise in the use as well as familiarity with media, communication, media as well as digital technologies. In majority locations of the world, the upbringing of the Millennials was primarily marked by the increase of neoliberal approaches to economics and political matters.

Other generations often find working with Millenials difficult. Millennials work differently with other generations. They, therefore, want a workplace that values the way they work. According to Speigel (personal Interview held on February 18, 2015), Millennials want to work in a work environment that values teamwork rather than individuality. They do not wish to find themselves in situations where they or someone else makes all the decisions in the organization. They want to be involved in the process but do not necessarily want to be granted the entire role to play. Millenials also wish to work in an environment where they may make their contributions freely and without fear of being criticized. Rather than being motivated by money, they want to a leadership system that cares for them.

It is well known that every generation is similar to the people, who have different personalities. This is the similar case for the Millennials, who comprise of the American teens and those in their twenty-something that are trying to make into adulthood as well as beginning of a new millennium (New Strategist Publications, 2004). They are mostly known to be self-expressive, confident, upbeat, liberal as well as open to change. Unlike the case of the older adults, these Millennials are known to be racially and ethnically diverse. They tend to be much less religious in terms of their perspective and views especially when it comes to issues touching on the society. In terms of religion, Millennials are known to be less overtly religious generation in the United States in modern times. An estimated 1 in every 4 Millennials are known to be not affiliated to any religion, which is more than the percentage of older adults when they were in the similar age bracket of 18 – 29 (Howe, N., Strauss & LifeCourse Associates, 2007). Nonetheless, this fact that this data only shows Millennials do not belong to any religious group does not mean that they do not believe. It is believed that Millennials pray as many times as their elders when they were in their youth.

Majority of the Millennials are less probability to have joined and served in the military. From an education perspective, the Millennials are on track to establishing a record of being the most highly educated generation in the history of the United States. This is a trend that is mostly driven by the increased demands of people that have a deeper understanding of the modern knowledge-based economy (Howe & Strauss, 2000). It has also been widely accelerated in recent years by the vast number of 20-something that are enrolling in graduate college, schools or community colleges. Within the 18 – 24-year-olds there is a record share of 39.6% that was enrolled in college by the year 2008 (Taylor, 2014).

However, when it comes to their entry into career jobs, it has been adversely affected and derailed by the Great Recession, which emerged as a result of the 2007-2008 Financial Crisis leading to the collapse of the financial market as well as the fall of the housing market. Nonetheless, the Millennials can express optimism about their economic future unlike the case of their elders.

Millennials are known to embrace a myriad of different forms of self-expression. An estimated 75 percent of all Millennials in the United States have profile in one or more of the existing social networking sites. Further, for every five Millennials one of them has uploaded a video about themselves on an online platform. Close to 4 in 10 Millennials have a tattoo on their bodies and 1 in 4 exhibits a piercing on different places within the body other than the traditional earlobe, which is 6 times more than the case of the older adults that have had a piercing on their body. However, there is a unique phenomenon about the Millennials that stands very clearly, which is an increased need for privacy. Privacy appears to be of utter importance to Millennials, with well-established boundaries such in the case of their social media profiles, or 70 percent of their tattoos are mostly hidden in their clothes.

Although Millennials have struggled much when it comes to finding jobs due to the effects of the Great Recession on the economy, most of them indicate they have sufficient savings that can help attain their financial goals.  At the moment, an estimated 37 percent of Millennials aged between 18 and 29 years are unemployed or are out of work. Research studies indicate that the young individuals that graduate from college during slow economic times tend to long-term effects, whereby the effects touch on their careers, as well as earnings for an estimated duration of 15 years.

Millennials are seen to have a wary perspective towards human nature, which can explain their happenings within their surrounding environment from terrorism, protective parents to violence in the media culture. About two-thirds of Millennials indicate that they cannot be too careful when it comes to dealing with people. Therefore, there is a level of mistrust among the Millennials largely because of the environment they have lived in, where the aspect of danger has become a frequent occurrence. Further, there is a widely held view among Millennials that the government or those that are in authority should enhance their actions towards solving these problems such as growing insecurity.

From a global impact, the Millennials have a played a significant role in particular creating a need for technological innovations. In fact, it can be stated that they constitute the major portion of information technology consumer products such as smartphones, software applications to other gadgets and services. Major information technology firms such as Facebook, Apple Inc. Samsung Corporation, Google Inc., and Twitter target this consumer bracket, because they have the potential to respond to innovations and products. Therefore, it can be stated that the Millennials have impacted the global trend in information and technology innovations, which appears to enhance the process of globalization in a much faster way.

From a political perspective, the Millennials have been pointed out to have neoliberal political views and opinions, a scenario that has reshaped the political landscape in major parts of the world. Unlike their elders, the Millennials have an intensified desire to speak out against different forms of political injustices, as well as protest against undemocratic leaders. A good example would be the Arab Spring, a movement or wave that swept the better part of the Middle East and which led to the removal of powerful autocratic leaders in some Arab countries like Egypt, Libya and Tunisia just to mention a few. The political leaders in these countries had for a long time been known for their oppressing their citizens as well as refusing them the fundamental rights such as freedom of expression. Another recent example is the Umbrella protests which were held in Hong Kong for a considerable period of time, as the protesters called for the Chinese government to allow the Hong Kong people to make their democratic decisions with respect to electing their leaders.

The 2008 Presidential elections in the United States revealed a significant fact with respect to the role and impact of Millennials when it came to the political arena. This was the Presidential election that brought President Obama to power, and the Millennials constituted an enormous percentage of the voters. An estimated 66 percent of the electorate were within the Millennials bracket while adults only accounted for 50 percent. This is perhaps the largest voter disparity in modern United States between the older and the younger voters in a period of over four decades. This was a turning point in the politics of the United States after decades of low participation among the younger Americans, it became apparent that if well motivated they could easily sway and influence political decisions to their side. Another aspect of the political circle that demonstrates the neoliberal views of the Millennials is that although they played a significant role in electing President Obama into office in 2008, they are indicating that President Obama has failed to achieve his change goals as initially stated during the campaign period.

In the United States, the Millennials have played a significant role in the creation of a new and alternate form of media, where information is conveyed to the public as it is unlike the case of mainstream media houses. The use of social media platforms to express their varying and liberal views such as discontent with political leaders and different government policies has become a common phenomenon. It has significantly impacted how leaders both in the private as well as public sector handle issues that are linked to the welfare and interest of the general public. For instance, a look at the Occupy Wall Street protests; one can see that there is a huge discontent with the private sector and the failure of the government to regulate them effectively.

At the workplace, Millennials love to be independent and want to make their decisions without having to follow a set of rules. According to Gisel Ruiz of Wal-Mart (Personal interview held on February 20, 2015), Millennials want to be given a set of goals and be required to achieve. This is in contrast to the tradition of having a domineering boss always checking on progress. They prefer to be paid according to their performance. This way, they can make decisions on where to spend most of their time. Doing this has also enabled them to be more independent and to pursue more of their goals as they please. Organizations using this method with their millennial employees are reaping heavily from their workforce.

Ruiz (Personal interview, February 20, 2015) however feels that Millennials are an essential part of the workforce especially with regard to the role they play in the use of technology in the workforce. She argues that they are more receptive to technology and will often be the first group to suggest, try and use innovations at the workplace. Owing to the importance of technology in today’s workplace, Millennials are a must-have at the workplace. Even more importantly, Millenials have already started taking leadership positions in big organizations and must be embraced by every organization that hopes to grow.

Millennials have come to age at a period when the United States economy is in turmoil, its role and image has been tarnished by engaging in violation of international laws by invading sovereign countries. The threat of terrorism has never been higher than it is during the time of the Millennials. The number of gun shootings in the United States has increased exponentially, and little is being done by the political leaders to control the acquisition and ownership of guns. The level of income inequality has never been higher than it is in today’s America, not to mention, the lack of upward of mobility. These are some of the issues that have tremendously impacted on the Millennials and particularly making them less trusting of the authorities, government policies, and the political leadership. Unlike their elders who perhaps enjoyed good economic, political and social conditions during their youth, the Millennials have a much bleak future because there is little sign to show some positive aspects ahead. The United States debt is highest in the entire world, and the government has been operating on a deficit.

References

DelCampo, R. G. (2010). Managing the multi-generational workforce: From the GI generation to the millennials. Farnham: Gower.

Howe, N., & Strauss, W. (2000). Millennials rising: The next great generation /by Neil Howe and Bill Strauss ; cartoons by R.J. Matson. New York: Vintage Books.

Howe, N., Strauss, W., & LifeCourse Associates. (2007). Millennials go to college: Strategies for a new generation on campus : recruiting and admissions, campus life, and the classroom. Great Falls, VA: LifeCourse Associates.

Leeds, I. (2015, February 20, 2015). Personal Interview.

New Strategist Publications, Inc. (2004). The Millennials: Americans born 1977 to 1994. Ithaca, NY: New Strategist Publications.

Singh, P., Bhandarker, A., & Rai, S. (2012). Millennials and the workplace: Challenges for architecting the organizations of tomorrow. New Delhi: SAGE India.

Speigel, D. (2015, February 16, 2015) Personal Interview.

Taylor, P. (2014). The next America: Boomers, millennials, and the looming generational showdown.