The Differences Between The Millennials And Genx

Today, the workforce is made up of many different generations, which is affecting and effectively changing the workplace culture as a whole. The major generational differences between millennials and baby boomers can be either positive or negative depending on whom you ask. Boomers may categorize millennials as lazy and entitled, while millennials may call themselves innovative. No matter what they call themselves or each other, they all have to work together now as simply as that. This topic has sparked a lot of discussion as to how it’s best for each generation to act and deal with their other generational coworkers.

To start, this shift towards a shared economy is giving Millennials a bad reputation. Instead of focusing on their spending habits, Huffington Post blogger, Tim Urban, targets the work ethics of the younger generations in his article, “Why Generation Y Yuppies Are Unhappy.” In fact, Urban believes that younger generations were too spoiled in their childhood, so by the time adulthood hit they were destined to be failures. In addition to

The current generations in the workplace today are Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z. Each generation brings their own values and mindsets to the mix. Although genetics play a part in a person’s characteristics, the generation in which someone is born into also plays an integral part in shaping their mind, values, goals, and work ethics. People from the same generation share similar experiences, and this can influence how they think politically and socially.

Upon reflecting on the three main generations that comprise the workplace today, a few differences emerge. “Baby Boomers” grew up in a time when movements were prominent, the Vietnam War occurred, key figures were assassinated, the Watergate Scandal occurred, and television was introduced (Twenge et al., 2010; Schullery, 2013). Overall, “Baby Boomers” seem to exhibit a distrust of authority, value hard work, and want to enjoy their achievements (Robbins & Judge, 2015; Twenge et al., 2010). As such, they are results driven and give their utmost effort (Robbins & Judge, 2015). “Generation X” grew up in a time of computers, divorce, two career parents, MTV, and economic uncertainty (Twenge et al., 2010; Robbins & Judge, 2015). For the most part, they seem to exhibit the workplace behaviors of independence and a lack of commitment to employers (Twenge et al., 2010). They value a balance between work and life and place more focus on extrinsic rewards such as monetary compensation (Twenge et al., 2010). “Millennials” grew up in prosperous times with technology dominating the era and over-protective parents (Robbins & Judge, 2015; Schullery, 2013). Generally, they seem to place a greater value on employee benefits, leisure time, teamwork, and open communication (Society of Human Resource Management, 2004; Twenge, 2010; Myers & Sadaghiani, 2010). In addition, they have also been given the labels of “self-centered” and “entitled” (Myers & Sadaghiani, 2010).

They deplore the fact that a post-secondary education is no longer an automatic ticket to the perks of a middle class lifestyle. They also demonstrate distaste for institutions and labels, and feel that freedom of expression and liberation of self is fundamental for positive change. On that token, one of the most controversial topics of comparison between the Baby Boomers and the Millennials is that of work ethic. Boomers are often thought of as being hard-working and industrious. They often tie much of their self-worth directly to their professional achievements. They are often competitive which drives them to take on a host of professional responsibilities. This keeps them motivated and self-assured. Millennials have a tendency to want to start at the top, side-stepping the entry level positions and the upper rings of corporate ladder that Boomers dedicated decades of their time to

It is important to keep in mind that each generation sees the world through a unique lens that forms as a result of the events that were taking place in the world as these individuals grew up. Brenner focuses on the different events that have shaped their values and their perception of work. For example, the Veterans went through World War II and grew up with a strict regimen. As such, quality, respect and authority are important to them. Baby Boomers embraced the value of having to sacrifice to get ahead. All that sacrifice makes them very loyal. Generation X workers were the latchkey children who watched their Boomer parents forge a new workplace. They were also the first generation to grow up with technology. As such, this generation cares more about productivity and less about the number of hours spent on the job. Millennials are a generation entrenched in technology and therefore urn for instant gratification. They bore easily. Because they best understand how to maximize technology, they value a balance between work and

Millennials are categorized in many differ ways. Some people believe Millennials are lazy and narcissistic while other people believe they are more open-minded confident, self-expressive, liberal, upbeat and receptive to new ideas and ways of living. This starts different disputes between individuals. For example, Hasan Piker argues Simon Sinek statements made in the video, “On Millennials in the Workplace.” Sinek uses his motivational speaking skills to persuade the audience that Millennials, people reaching young adulthood in the early 21st century, are catered to and entitled. He uses four examples that back up his reasoning: parenting, technology, impatience, and environment. In contrast, Piker responds differently, believing that Millennials work for their status. Piker argues Sinek’s views about Millennials in the video “Young Turks on Millennials.” Both Sinek and Piker use different rhetorical strategies to entertain and persuade their audience about Millennials.

This elevates meals beyond necessary daily routine to competitive sport. Millennial diners will increasingly seek out casual restaurants that are newer and trendier in order to elevate their personal brand. Though Gen Y earns, on average, less than Gen X and Baby Boomers, they are significantly more likely to visit “upscale casual-dining restaurants.” While this may in part be related to differing attitudes towards finance, New York Magazine posits that it’s also because food is a “playground for one-upmanship” and “a measuring stick of

Likewise, the current generations in the workforce have different values. Research surveys done by Gibson et al. (2009) and Crumpacker and Crumpacker (2007) have found that the generations have diverse values. It was found that Baby Boomers value health, family, honesty, responsibility and company loyalty more than anything else. Researchers also found the Baby boomer workers value authority, hard work and achievement. Additionally, Baby Boomers value when someone communicates with them one-on-one rather than using technology (Crumpacker & Crumpacker, 2007; Gison et al., 2009). In contrast, Generation X workers tend to value family security, health, honesty and responsibility the most. In addition it was found that they value a comfotable life

Millennials are growing up in the information age and have many advantages that previous generations did not possess. Unfortunately, there are skills that these kids lack that are essential for today’s world called social responsibility. This can have the traits of perseverance through tasks, dependability, and work ethic. In the article, “Experts Zero In on Nonacademic Skills Needed for Success” by Sarah Sparks she explains in great detail of the faults in our generation.

Diverse experiences and characteristics of the Traditionalist generation, Baby Boomers generation, Generation X, and the Millennial

Social behavior has always been something that varies dramatically between generations. Today we see this played out between groups labeled as the Baby Boomers and The Millennial’s. The Baby Boomers were born between 1940’s and 1960’s. The group labeled as the Millennials were born in the 1980’s and 1990’s. These two groups grew up vastly different worlds and their behaviors reflect this.

During this paper, we will discuss the difference between baby boomer, and Gen X/Y. Baby boomers was the original 'generation'. And it was a useful label because, initially, it described those born in the immediate years after World War II, when there was – thanks to soldiers returning home – a significant spike in births, both in America and in Britain. Baby Boomers, as a phrase, was first used in 1970, in a Washington Post article. The phrase Generation Y was first used in a 1993 Ad Age article, while Millennials was coined by sociologists Neil Howe and William Strauss. As well as being comfortable sharing their entire life online, this is a selfish, self-regarding generation. "Let me take a Selfie," is their catchphrase. The man credited

Millennials and the older generations do have distant relationships in the workplace that needs a resolution to provide a productive and excited work environment that produces results. These critcism about Millennials Steve Gavatorta witness at his own work environment, he states, “One of the common issues I experience when working with clients, who are primarily Baby Boomers and Gen X’ers, involves Generation Y entering the workplace,” Gavatorta describes how he personally experience these objections daily about Generation Y in the workplace, and how the older generations protests about Generation Y and the communication barrier with technology, their sense of entitlement, and their work ethic. Generation Y’s differences compared to the

The upcoming generation, millennials, are a new type of generation. They have proven to be the most educated generation, despite the hard times in the economy. Yet they still face criticism from their elders on their work ethic. Although they seem to all be lazy and not interested in working, not all millennials are like that. They just have different values in life, and balance work life with free time. Millennials have faced a lot of criticism on their work ethic, which has many questioning do millennials have a strong work ethic. They are said to be lazy narcissistic tech addicts, who don’t take any job seriously and slack off. What most don’t know is that the economy hasn’t been in the greatest of shape, this makes work ethic hard to