Ageism Against the Savvy, Avocado Loving, Millennials
By: Marlene Salangsang
Tags: Workplace Culture, Ageism, Millennials, Future Of Work

By Marlene Salangsang

“Is anyone paying attention to anything I’m saying? Whatever, my horoscope says be bold so I’ll put it out there anyway”. This is something that every millennial *sigh* — yes millennial deals with on a daily basis.

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A little backstory about me, I am a millennial without a fancy degree, or scholarly achievement or anything quite more than being proficient in reading social cues and a CPR certification. With that being said, does that automatically disqualify me as someone knowledgeable? Many respond “Oh, of course not! Everybody has something to add!”, but that’s not true; is it? If a coworker with the same background and as me came up to you and tried telling you a path to take or a way of understanding something, your first reaction would be: “who does this person think they are?”. Don’t be ashamed, we’ve all been there in one way or another. Although, this mental process is what is creating the forever suffering social stigma of the millennials.

“Person barely out of college who wants what they want immediately, without being willing to work hard to get it”. “Lazy”. “Clever, but mainly because they’re lazy”. These are just a few of many stereotypes’s of the up and coming generation. Society’s lack of belief in the future leaders may be exactly what is going to ruin it.

Millennials are statistically more optimistic about the future than the previous generations. They value the well-being and morale of those around them over financial success, and according to Forbes, “74% of non-millennials agree that millennials bring valuable new skills to the workplace, including technological skills”. So why do we still have the reputation of someone who is impatient when it comes to working? We are young, innovative and capable but still face ageism in the workplace.

Time and time again we see the rise and fall of business’s that don’t support their younger generation workers, yet rely on them to produce, maintain and build their company. Time are changing, business’s either have to adapt or they fail. The average employee retention is 60%, 60% of millennials are open to looking at different job opportunities because they are either unhappy or undervalued. In today’s society, the incoming generation values not only a company that supports the well-being of the employee, but one that cares about the office culture. Researchers have found millennials aren’t actually lazy in the workplace, but require a different kind of work environment as oppose to the average 9–5. Overall, they want to feel valued in the workplace. As stated in Harvard Business Review, “Millennials are actually more likely to see themselves — proudly — as “work martyrs” than older workers, and less likely to use all their vacation time”. Not so lazy, are we? All we want is to be valued as an employee and recognized by our merit. So support your workplace millennial, they didn’t just rack up 40k in student debt to be thought of as a joke at work. Millennials respect the tradition workplace and their elders, although foresee a different future for themselves.