? Boot boy tactics | Main | Aural Floats: Dreamer's Dream ?
October 18, 2009
Generation Y's first recession
As news arrives only 46% of Americans aged 16-24 have a job, BusinessWeek offers tips for young people surviving their first recession.
Potentially handy: Penelope Trunk on motivating Gen Ys in the downtown (because threatening to fire them and hire someone else would be too easy).
Generation Y is fundamentally conservative. Not politically. But in terms of their lifestyle choices and aspirations. This is a generation that loves their parents. Over 65% of college grads move back in with their parents, and they are not particularly unhappy about it because they have a great relationship with their parents. Adults have been helping Gen Y their whole lives. They are used to their parents' friends helping them, their coaches and tutors, and every time there's a problem, a parent talks with an adult involved and fixes it. So Gen Y loves authority—it has always been good for them.
Think about it: Baby boomers protested Vietnam by taking to the streets and violating laws. Gen Y protested Iraq by playing by the rules and electing Obama. Gen X invented grunge music and jeans at work. Gen Y is making the Beatles hip again—and they love to dress up for work. Gen Y is conservative, kind-hearted, and they follow the rules. Of course they are like this: The world has treated them well.
Gen Y just wants what their parents want for them: a good job, a stable family life, and a life that has meaning. Baby boomers told Gen Y that the most important values were contributing to the greater good and always learning. And Gen Y believes that.
Think about it: Baby boomers protested Vietnam by taking to the streets and violating laws. Gen Y protested Iraq by playing by the rules and electing Obama. Gen X invented grunge music and jeans at work. Gen Y is making the Beatles hip again—and they love to dress up for work. Gen Y is conservative, kind-hearted, and they follow the rules. Of course they are like this: The world has treated them well.
Gen Y just wants what their parents want for them: a good job, a stable family life, and a life that has meaning. Baby boomers told Gen Y that the most important values were contributing to the greater good and always learning. And Gen Y believes that.
If by "conservative", we mean "statist" and "risk averse" then our definition only needs to add the word "Canadian" and you are describing the way we rock conservatism north of the border (i.e. badly). Yet another example of the legacy of the Worstest Generation at work.
Posted by Ghost of a flea at October 18, 2009 12:19 PM
