In the recent past, I have read that companies are complaining that new and recent college grads are a bit whiny and have a very high sense of entitlement. I’ve already read/heard that my generation believes that job opportunities were just wonderful 30 or 35 years ago and everyone was making tons of money. Somehow, people on both sides seem to be thoroughly disconnected.
I’m really not sure how companies can be surprised by the attitudes of the new generation. I mean, the new generation was raised by the old generation. It would seem that, having spent the last 20 or 30 years dealing with us as we grew up, the older generation wouldn’t exactly be surprised when we behaved as we were raised. (Or maybe the older generation was just thoroughly distant and uninterested.)
The second point I derive from what I think I heard in a BusinessWeek podcast. It seemed to imply that people in their 20s want the same kind of economic security that our parents had 30 or 35 years ago… whatever kind of security that was. I couldn’t really understand their point, because they also seemed to be complaining about their student loans; somehow their parents had more money than they knew what to do with, but they didn’t have any ability to save money for their kids for college.
Oh well. Despite how “connected” we become. People were, are, and always will be thoroughly disconnected from almost everything.
I dealt with this attitude from my bosses that my generation had a feeling of entitlement and did not want to earn its way up . . . What really got to me was this:
1. I’m 30. I’m actually on the bottom of the Gen-X generation. I have never felt entitled to much except professional courtesy, respect, and general human decency.
2. If I am in an industry where loyalty is paid back with a whopping 3% ‘raise’ and disloyalty is a 20% raise from another company . . . well, I’m jumping ship. I will have no problem explaining to my children how I paid for their college. Respect and loyalty are two way streets.