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So, like, you want that done now?
By AprillBrandon in Pop Goes the Culture
October 9, 2008

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Well Generation Y, the big, bad media is at it again, telling us we are sub par compared to other generations. And this time it's our work ethic they are going after.

According to a study by Jobfox, Gen Y (or Millennials, whatever us crazy kids are being called these days) was the lowest scorer when recruiters were asked about their employees performance based on generation.

To be more specific (from BusinessWeek):

"Only 20% of the recruiters classified the Millennials as "generally great performers," while a full 63% of Baby Boomers (43 to 62 years old) and 58% of Gen Xers (29 to 42) were given this distinction.

The only demographic that rivaled the Gen Yers for unexceptional performance was their book-end generation, the Traditionalists (63 and older), who were only considered "generally great performers" by only 25% of the recruiters surveyed.

Furthermore, 30% of recruiters went so far as to say the Millennials were generally poor performers."

Like, bummer, dude.

However, I have a feeling that this may not be a characteristic of Gen Y specifically but more that the youngest people in the workplace are generally considered the worst workers. Fifteen years ago, this study probably would have found that Gen X was just a bunch of grungy, lazy workers. And back when the Boomers were the babies in the workplace, employers probably considered them a bunch of lazy hippies.

And I'm not the only one who thinks this. In response to the study, Austin Lavin, CEO and Co-Founder of myfirstpaycheck.com, said this:

"People have been complaining about the lack of respect, motivation, ability, etc. of younger people forever, this has nothing to do Millennials. I think if anything, this survey shows that businesses need to engage in better training and recruitment of younger employees."

Of course, we could be wrong. Perhaps Gen Y is just a generation of poor performers. And while I see examples of this all the time (for instance, the girl working the fast food drive thru that verbally sighs and rolls her eyes when you tell her "Um, this is not what I ordered") I also see examples of my generation working their tails off.

In the newsroom alone, we have a bunch of us 20-somethings and some bright young interns that when it comes down to it, are willing to work 14 hour days, weekends, nights, and punch out 5 stories a day if need be.

I guess only time will tell if it's laziness or just a perception of laziness.