Who are the ‘millennials’ and why are they like that–and why not?

June 22, 2014

Their parents and bosses try to figure them out

By Cheche V. Moral
Philippine Daily Inquirer

7:24 am | Sunday, June 22nd, 2014

 

They’re constantly tweeting, taking selfies, texting. They’re spoiled, narcissistic, always seeking attention. They’re easily bored and can’t stay put in one job. Doted on and their whims indulged while growing up, they have a strong sense of entitlement.

That’s on one hand. On the other hand, they’re very sociable and are used to mingling with diverse groups. They like to work in teams. They’re confident and ambitious. They’re also open-minded and liberal. And owing to their tech gadgets, they’re always in touch with their parents and family.

These are generalizations that could easily be ascribed to just about anybody. Social researchers, however, have attributed these stereotypes to the “Me” generation, a single group called “millennials,” those born in the early 1980s to early 2000s (roughly age 10-32).

Just like their parents before them, Gen Xers and Baby Boomers are scratching their heads over these so-called millennials—their own spawns—and how vastly different their seemingly collective values and behaviors are from their parents.

As is often the case, there is a wide generational divide. After all, who hasn’t heard from their elders the lines that begin with, “In my time, we didn’t do this or that…”? As one parent of millennials wonders, “Is it the parents’ fault?” as if, indeed, something is askew and wrong with this generation.

Millennials are also known by one other famous moniker: Generation Y, though the use of the term millennial has been having a resurgence of late, especially in the western context—a marketing thing, perhaps?—even as it has been in use since 1991, owing to the authors William Strauss and Neil Howe, who wrote about the generational history of the US, and thus are credited for having named this age group.

Indeed, researchers and social surveys on the so-called millennials have been done mostly in the context of the developed and affluent countries. But with the world getting smaller, youths across the globe are sharing more commonalities than ever before, not least among them how wired and dependent on technological devices they are.

In the end, are millennials as bad and hopeless as they are made out to be? Some parents, employers, and an educator weigh in.

Read the Full Article Here