The "Millennials" Are Coming

Morley Safer On The New Generation Of American Workers

(CBS)  This story was originally broadcast on Nov. 11, 2007. It was updated on May 23, 2008.

It's graduation time and once again we say "Stand back all bosses!" A new breed of American worker is about to attack everything you hold sacred: from giving orders, to your starched white shirt and tie. They are called, among other things, "millennials." There are about 80 million of them, born between 1980 and 1995, and they're rapidly taking over from the baby boomers who are now pushing 60.

They were raised by doting parents who told them they are special, played in little leagues with no winners or losers, or all winners. They are laden with trophies just for participating and they think your business-as-usual ethic is for the birds. And if you persist in the belief you can, take your job and shove it.

As correspondent Morley Safer first reported last November, corporate America is so unnerved by all this that companies like Merrill Lynch, Ernst & Young, and scores of others are hiring consultants to teach them how to deal with this generation that only takes "yes" for an answer.

---

The workplace has become a psychological battlefield and the millennials have the upper hand, because they are tech savvy, with every gadget imaginable almost becoming an extension of their bodies. They multitask, talk, walk, listen and type, and text. And their priorities are simple: they come first.

Just ask Marian Salzman, an ad agency executive who has been managing and tracking millennials since they entered the workforce.

"Some of them are the greatest generation. They're more hardworking. They have these tools to get things done," she explains. "They are enormously clever and resourceful. Some of the others are absolutely incorrigible. It's their way or the highway. The rest of us are old, redundant, should be retired. How dare we come in, anyone over 30. Not only can't be trusted, can't be counted upon to be, sort of, coherent."

Salzman says today's manager must be half shrink and half diplomat.

What are some of the do's and don'ts in speaking to the generation of young workers?

"You do have to speak to them a little bit like a therapist on television might speak to a patient," Salzman says, laughing. "You can't be harsh. You cannot tell them you're disappointed in them. You can't really ask them to live and breathe the company. Because they're living and breathing themselves and that keeps them very busy."

Faced with new employees who want to roll into work with their iPods and flip flops around noon, but still be CEO by Friday, companies are realizing that the era of the buttoned down exec happy to have a job is as dead as the three-Martini lunch.

"These young people will tell you what time their yoga class is and the day's work will be organized around the fact that they have this commitment. So you actually envy them. How wonderful it is to be young and have your priorities so clear. Flipside of it is how awful it is to be managing the extension, sort of, of the teenage babysitting pool," Salzman tells Safer.

All of which has led, as you'd expect, to a whole new industry -- or epidemic -- of consultants, experts they allege, in how to motivate, train and, yes, sometimes nanny the extraterrestrials who've taken over the workplace.

Mary Crane, who once whipped up soufflés for the White House, now offers crash courses for millennials in, well, the obvious. "As to the tattoos just make sure they stay covered up within the office, especially if you are going to be meeting clients," she advises her clients.

"It's a perfect storm we have created to put these people in a position where they suddenly have to perform as professionals and haven’t been trained," Crane says.

Basic training, like how to eat with a knife and fork, or indeed how to work. Today, fewer and fewer middle class kids hold summer jobs because mowing lawns does not get you into Harvard.

"They have climbed Mount Everest. They've been down to Machu Picchu to help excavate it. But they've never punched a time clock. They have no idea what it's like to actually be in an office at nine o'clock, with people handing them work," Crane says.

She maintains that while this generation has extraordinary technical skills, childhoods filled with trophies and adulation didn't prepare them for the cold realities of work.

"You now have a generation coming into the workplace that has grown up with the expectation that they will automatically win, and they'll always be rewarded, even for just showing up," Crane says.

"To what extent are you having to tell the boomers, the bosses, the 50 to 60 year olds, 'The people who got to change are you guys, not them?'" Safer asks.

"The boomers do need to hear the message, that they're gonna have to start focusing more on coaching rather than bossing. If this generation in particular, you just tell them, 'You got to do this. You got to do this. You got to do this.' They truly will walk. And every major law firm, every major company knows, this is the future," Crane explains.

[redallawolf]

I feel nothing but pity for the people who agree with this article. Apparently, they're too busy whining about my generation on the internet to go outside and meet a decent young person.

[cjrwriter]

This sounds like some bitter Baby Boomer or Gen X wrote this article.

I'm actually doing some research on the Millennials for a script I'm writing. I've always noticed that my friends and I think different than our parents. Is like we believe we can do anything and they just really want to get by. So I decided to write a screenplay of 20somethings coming of age. I do admit that it takes longer for us to leave home and get our careers started. I mean, I'm 28 and finishing my masters, still living with my mom. Is that a bad thing? My parents got married and started their careers at a young age. Now, they are divorced and struggling to make ends meet. Is that the blueprint for me?

During my research I've been finding that there's a lot of criticism towards our generation. I've always been told to reach for the stars and don't let anybody tell you "you can't do something." Suddenly, that's a bad thing? I'm proud to be the class of 2000. The millennium is ours. I'm sure that my generation is the one that will settle the problems that the generations before us couldn't. It's a nasty world but is ours for the taking. And no doubt we will make it better!

[GirlApproved]

You want to find out more about "Millennials" and what they REALLY want?

Check out the Post88s: http://www.slideshare.net/girlapproved/girlapproved-introduces-the-post88s

http://girlapproved.us

We are the worlds authority on females growing up with social media. GIrlapproved is uniquely qualified to help brands answer the core questions required to increase market share with this new female (see post88s).

Technology is not only changing culture, it is changing us as a people. Females are undergoing unprecedented advancements to their identity and power. As brands face a very new future, they must evolve to remain powerful. Girlapproved helps brands identify and design new growth opportunities through products, branding, technology and communication.

Girlapproved is a way forward. It gives brands economically substantiated permission to invent and advance. Girlapproved is not about trying to be new, cool or different; it was designed specifically to identify and address unmet needs and desires that are forming due to profound shifts in female culture. Girlapproved is the first-ever female invention and design methodology, producing the most authentic products and brands available.

[lindseyvaillancourt]

I think that the bulk of this article sounds like the absurd rantings of a bitter (and likely much older) individual. If you look at the findings from Pew's research, my generation, the Millennial generation, is up-beat, positive, confident, and independent. We are more involved in our government than any other generation before us. We are changing the workplace to create a more efficient, and enjoyable environment. We also have the largest percentage of individuals who have received or are receiving a higher-level education. Only a person feeling the threat of a technologically savvy, competent, and creative generation would be able to spin these characteristics so negatively.

Babyboomer business methods are unnecessarily cold and harsh. We have innovated these methods and found a new way to conduct affairs. To say that these methods reflect the Millennial generation's inability to work efficiently, as well as our need to be "babysat," simply exemplifies the ignorance that innately comes with looking through the lenses of an older generation.

Any Millenial struggle to succeed in the workplace I would associate with the fact that, during this recession/depression, we have not been given an opportunity to gain much work experience at all. Many of us are exiting college (which was practically obligatory) up to our necks in debt and working for minimum wage because the oldest generation of the workforce has yet to retire.

I absolutely love my generation -We are more globally aware/connected than ever before. Our views on government, politics, and society are open-minded, tolerant, and refreshing and we are not afraid to take a step back and ask ourselves if a change needs to be made. I am sure we will do wonders.

[Eleadah]

I do not agree with this article. The millennieas are not the "ME" generation those were our parents, the baby boomers. We are the "WE" generation, more properly called Generation WE. We were not born from 1980 to 1985, infact the millennials were born from 1978 to 2000 and there are a whopping 95 million of us and only 78 million baby boomers. We ask for change to better our nation and the world as we know it. We are inheriting a nation that is in decline, dependent on fossil-fuels, poluted, and in debt. CBS needs to get their facts straight before saying something like this.

If you really want to know about the millennials, Generation WE, then go to http://www.gen-we.com/

[birdbackyards]

As a 20 year Army vet, now a 52 year old self proclaimed geek with a Zune, I am tickled pink with this kind of attitude in the latest work force additions. Because of politicians wanting more and more of my money to finance their re-elections, I am going to have to work longer and harder to keep my job and plan for my financial future (hint, Millienials...you will be at that point one day). Go flit from job to job. I'll stay and gather seniority, which means higher pay and more money going to my 401k. Can any of you guilty of this lack of the old one work ethic understand any of this? Or do I need to communicate in leetspeak? Blame you? Not a bit. Waiting for you to fall on your ass? You bet.

[milorocks]

Wow, way to speak the truth, or atleast through your lens. I'm 25 years old, I've had a job since I was 16 and was always the employee everyone wanted to keep. I, to this day, cannot stand the thought of having my phone with me while I work- I think it's unprofessional. But let's talk about my supposed lack of work ethic. I work for a failing firm run by one from your generation that had to hire me to produce anything (computer-aided drawings, presentations, etc.). I work full-time, just me, even on the weekends to make sure everything gets done, and guess what? I don't have benefits, I don't get a 401k, and half the time I don't get paid. I wait and wait for my paychecks but they're few and far between, I still show up to make sure my boss doesn't get sued and he doesn't lose his house. I wish I could leave, but it's not the moral thing to do and besides, they're are no jobs in my field. So when you're done trash talking, you can thank us for keeping you people afloat and paying for your social security and medicare.

[definingmanhood]

I resent some of the characterizations of my generation in this article. They are right about one thing though, I'm out for #1. In order to be a company man I'd have to incorporate myself. Luckily for my employer I also realize that whats good for the company is good for me. What past employers have had a problem with is my poor response to ********. I don't tolerate exploitation, manipulation or intimidation from my employers. I punch in on time, I work my shift, doing whats in the job description, and maybe a little extra, and then I punch out, when my required work is finished and I'm ready to leave. if you want me to do 30 minutes of paper work at the end of my shift, you're paying for it. It's not coming out of my personal time thats for sure.

I don't do yoga, and I don't expect something for nothing, but i do expect my contributions to be acknowledged, and when i go above and beyond I expect to be rewarded, at the very least with a little respect. Also I know for some managers and old timers its tough to imagine, especially the overeducated suits, but if I spend all day in the trenches, and you spend all day in the ivory tower counting money, you might wanna at least pretend to listen to my ideas and suggestions. Some employers are of the habit of treating entry level employees as disposable, and I won't tolerate that treatment from anyone under any circumstances.

I've been required to learn more in my first 20 years of life than you were required to learn in the first 40 years of your life, don't you dare look down your nose at me. I respect the fact that you have decades of hands on experience on your side, and I know I can learn a lot just by observing you, but you have to understand that this is a bold new world we're living in, and the dynamics that I bring to the table, as a product of this new age is valuable in and of itself. Where you might hire a consultant, I might just run a few internet searches and see what data, and info and recommendations are available for free. You spent 4 years and tens of thousands of dollars going to college, I spend 4 months and maybe $300 on books from Amazon.com and I become equally adept. Experience is the only thing that makes you my superior, and even that can become a liability as your experiences in 1978 have little bearing on the reality of 2009.

[huntr44]

Yes, yes, yes! I am so glad I was not the only person of education, ambition and a strong work ethic that was utterly appalled at this idiotic representation of my generation. We may not have a stuttering Roger Daltrey to represent us, but we have more than enough reason to be angry. We are the most world-wise and adaptable people on the planet so far and we lived our lives being talked down to this way by the the GenX Eeyores and their stoned Boomer parents and we have really had enough.

[huntr44]

I don't know who you think you're talking about, Ms. Textor, but you're about ten years off the mark. The F**k it attitude you attribute to people born in about 1980 is, in reality, a GenX cancer that people of our generation are desperately seeking to combat. Education, the sciences, and cleaning up the mess made by the boomers and their kids(GenX are our rallying cries. Doubt me? take the explosion in popularity of current-event based comedy such as the Daily Show and the Colbert Report par example. Maybe you're too old to tell the difference between a 38 year old and a 28 year old, or too scared of the big bad internets to have done any research. One way or another, turn off O'Reilley and get with the times (possibly try opening a book). My generation is poised to be the best since WWII, so mind your p's and q's or we'll take away your social security.

[ctpam]

huntr44 must be a joy to work with! Um-if you "take away social security" don't you know that your mommy and daddy won't still be alive to pay for your retirement?

[Morbidax]

May I point out to the author of this ridiculous article, and all the old loons who agree with it, that it's the Millennials who are currently fighting in the Iraq war (voluntarily, at that... gosh, we're so selfish!)? And it's the Millennials who are currently having to clean up after their parents (the Baby Boomers) mistakes? If this generation is as coddled and screwed up as this article makes them out to be, it's their parent's fault. But then again, most of those crazy Baby Boomers were stoned throughout the majority of their young life, so that's not surprising.

[acaiberryfacts1]

As an employer of several 18-25 year olds over the past five years, I can say you''ve got it dead wrong. Employers do not and should not have to pander to "extended adolescence", but should praise hard work, commitment and dedication to a job. It is an employer''s responsibility to promote those values.

http://www.resveratrolsources.net
http://www.acaiberrystudy.net