Baby Boomers v. Generation Y

The first things that comes to people’s mind when they hear about “Generation Y” is Narcissistic, want a better pay, flexible work schedule, and expects an easy job.

All these characteristics about my generation might be true for some millennial, but they’re not for me. Growing up my parents taught me that to be a winner you have to pay the price and work harder than anybody else. That’s exactly what I do in school, college, and at work. Moreover, as an international student in the United States, I have to work twice as hard as anybody else to be a winner in school and work.

The baby boomers often focus on the negative parts of Generation Y and never talk about the positive parts of our generation that the baby boomers can’t keep up with, for example, our generation is always up-to-date with new technology and internet. Almost all of our generation are familiar with and can operate an I-phone, you can accomplish many things in that new “smart” phone. Most of the baby boomers either can’t operate an I-phone or don’t know there is a “smart” phone like that. I don’t have an I-Phone but if i were to change my phone, i would definitely choose an I-Phone. You can ask me how to operate an I-Phone and it’s going to take me a few minutes to learn and to show you everything that you can do with that phone.

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When it comes to the dress code at work, I completely agree that we should feel comfortable with the outfit that we wear at work. We can wear button down shirts and khaki pants and still look professional and casual at the same time. The bottom line is that there is nothing to do with the outfit that we wear at work as long as we can perform our best at work. I really like how the Zappos Company has fun activities at their office that can make our generation enjoy and motivated to do our job. I really appreciate that some of the baby boomers can change their thinking and accept what our generation wants to do in the working environment.

During the last Christmas break, I worked at TBG, Incorporated for my internship. We did a lot of fun activities in the morning in order to get all the employees ready and motivated to do their job for the rest of the day. Almost all of my coworkers are Generation Y and our manager understands how our generation wants to be treated at work. TBG, Incorporated is one of the fastest growing sales and marketing firms in the Midwest.

The baby boomers should adapt and change their thinking to our generation, because if we feel comfortable with what we do, we can do better than their generation. I think they need to consider this phrase, “You have to take one step back before taking two steps forward.”