A "Surface" Understanding of Millennials

I encountered a video onFacebook by 8list about how Millennials are and how Millennials perceive themselves. Delamar, the lady on the video, broke it down to a list of why Gen Xers are different to Millennials and why Gen Xers are frustrated with the Millennials. Delamar made a really interesting point on how we should view Millennials individually and not use their differences against them.

Delamar described 'Millennial' as, "like an accusation" that, once heard, numerous negative characteristics arise, like being lazy, narcissistic, disrespectful, self-entitled, and on and on and on...

The question now is, are we? Let's answer few.

Disclaimer: I'm not speaking on behalf of all Millennials. This article aims to tap on how people view millennials in some aspect of our lives.

Are Millennials Lazy?

It has been a debate over the web whether Millennials are lazy or not. There are those who say that Millennials are always late for work and then hurry to leave the office to end their day. Or Millennials like to work in burst mode where they exert all their efforts in one sitting just to finish the job.

Hire a lazy person to do a difficult job because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it - Bill Gates

Interesting, though, Millennials do work a lot. A survey showed that in 2016, only 44% of Millennials studied used their Vacation days off, unlike 53% of the Gen Xers. One factor is Millennials are eager to rack up their experience/s. So, instead of taking days off work, Millennials are worried about their career, especially in this world where job requirements are becoming more demanding and competitive.

Should you then raise a brow if you noticed your Millennial employees racking up their days off?

Are Millennials Narcissist?

Tapping on the definition/s and classifications of a Narcissistic person would be lengthy — not to mention factors such as culture and technology. In short, a person who 'over-represents' oneself to an extent, regardless of status and achievement, can be considered as Narcissist in some way.

It is alarming that based on that article, there's an increasing number of Millennials who are being considered Narcissist. The study did not explain much as to what constitutes to the increase as there are a lot of factors influencing the result.

Some of these factors, on the observable level, could be a culprit.

Social Media as one, enables us to connect and share posts. An outlet for Millennials who are undeniably the heavy users of it to broadcast most about anything, including amazing feats. It is like a factory of instant gratification making us go an extra mile just to deliver.

Sadly though, because of this, the actions of the few affect the image of the majority. Partner it up with our mind's bias to negative content as we tend to remember more about inflicting and staggering content than the pleasant ones.

Conclusion

Numerous studies suggest that it has been a trend for older generations to demean and belittle younger generations, so it all boils down to circumstances.

Yes, circumstances. That alone is enough to say how different we are from each other. Whether it is in the demographical differences, economy, trend, technology, fads, and culture.

With that, this generation is different in its own ways. Same as how Gen Xers are different than the Boomers and so on. Every person has a different view, goal, and mindset.

Let the term 'Millennials' be a classification of a generation rather than an accusation.