Why Being Called a "Millennial" Is Awesome
Are you sick of hearing "Oh but you're a millennial" like it's a bad thing?! a.k.a. "you're a self entitled, lazy narcissist that only cares about avocado on toast." Yes? Well then you might want to read on...
Along with plenty of other counter arguments calling BS on that overused and quite frankly tired expression, here are a few stats to throw back in your uncle's face when he pipes up about how lazy, self-entitled and narcissistic you are.
First of all, a new study has shown that millennials actually never stop working.
We're less likely to completely take a holiday
Staffing company Accountemps conducted a survey that said 62% of workers aged 18-34 check in on their work once or twice a week during their time off. Further to this, 44% of women said that they didn't feel they get enough time off. In the Bentley survey mentioned above, they found that for employers, the benefit of offering flexible working hours to employees means we are are "Always on". Of the 80% of millenials that own a smartphone, 89% of us check our work emails outside of normal working hours - with 37% of these people saying they always do so.
So when we eventually get away from work, we really can't stay away - but why is this? Probably a mix of FOMO, anxiety that you're not in control, and the fear of returning to work with a big to do list. 54% of us reported that we need to know that everything is under control while we're not there; 53% wanted to know if our project are making progress; 47% are trying to lesson the amount of work they will come back to and 34% of us check in because we feel guilty about leaving our colleagues stranded with too much work.
We're a generation of entrepreneurs
A new survey states that we're more likely to pave our own pathway because we fear that going down a traditional career route may lead no where. In this survey 13% of respondents said that their Career goals involves climbing the corporate ladder to CEO or president. By comparison, 65% (that's two thirds) said their goal involves starting their own business.
We want flexibility and a good work-life balance
A generation full of health nuts, we want flexible working - meaning our work hours are more productive, and we can have a better work-life balance. In the same survey, 77% of millennials said that flexible working hours boosts productivity in our generation.
Despite more of us continuing our education - it's more difficult to enter the job market
Millennials are "known" to not be able to keep a job. However, despite more of us attending university than the generation before us, the job market is now more competitive than ever. Thanks to the great recession, where the ethos "hired last, fired first" came into place, it's more difficult to get a job straight out of university...and furthermore would we settle for a job offer even if it's not what we wanted in order to pay the bills? Maybe that's why we end up striving for better - striving for our dream job.
So, next time your uncle or boss looks down on you while you're munching on your smashed avocado toast...tell them exactly why they're wrong - and why they shouldn't so easily jump on the "millennials are lazy" bandwagon because it's appealed to their baby boomers, Generation X ego.