Generation Y at Work

Baby boomers are looking to retire. But their kids – twentysomething GEN Y’s – are just starting out, hitting the American workplace in waves. Flaunting their iPods with attitude, they are ready to take on the world as they see it.

And they’re not playing by the rules. If they don’t like the job, they quit. To pitch an idea, they’ll bypass the manager and email the CEO. They’re brazen, they’re technological whizzes, and they feel entitled. They’re doing things their way -- not the boomer way.

Some managers don't know what to do with them. Others say they may end up the highest-performing workforce in history.

Listen to a conversation on On Point about the new attitudes and expectations GEN Y is bringing to the workplace.

Have you seen today’s twentysomethings hard at work? Or do you think they’re hardly working? How do the twentysomethings of today differ from those of past generations?

Comments: 7

Tracey E. May 22, 2007, 10:15am EDT

I work for a company that hires reps. We have about 600 sales reps throughout the country and most are ages 23-35, There is a huge turnover constantly. The reps dont like to do too much work or they quit, they do not like the perks of their company car so they quit for a bigger better car, they don't like to do paperwork so they quit to go to the company that has computer paperless. A bunch of whiney crybabies !!

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Bhumika Ghimire May 22, 2007, 10:17am EDT

i belong to that twenty something gen y group..we are working hard but very differently from the last generation.some take it as hardly working. it is true, we will be the highest performing generation because technology has come a long way and yes..we work hard!!

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Tracey E. May 22, 2007, 11:05am EDT

I actually am from that weird generation because I was born in 1964. The end of the Baby Boomer Gen and the WAY beginning of the Gen Y
I personally work hard but have fun and relax when I can as well...LOL

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Ed W. May 22, 2007, 11:23am EDT

This whole subject -- giving a name to a group of people spanning decades in ages every few years and then trying to describe "them" is COMPLETE BULLS---T. It's just a piece of fluff the media rolls out every once in a while on a slow news day or to sell books to people by telling them "it's all about you." And the "you" they are aiming at in this case is "boomers"(god I detest that term) who never tire of being told they are cool and part of a history-making group; and people in their early 20s. It is all nonsense and all the talk and writing about it means nothing.

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Carolyn D. May 22, 2007, 11:46am EDT

It's the same with every generation. I am now 44, but when I was just out of school, everything that is being said about the Ys was being said about us. We all think we are fabulous and will change the world when we are in our 20s, but then...life happens, and we moderate our ideas, thoughts, and behaviours. There are slackers and there are hard workers in every age group - do we really need to define it all the time?

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Generation Y at Work

Comments: 7

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