It's no secret that virtually every publication or person will have some sort of commentary about the millennial generation. Lately, however, I've been noticing posts that are very anti-millennial-in-the-work-place.
I will prefaces this by saying that I am 22 years old, I have a Bachelor of Arts in English, specialized in creative writing, with a minor in Spanish language and literature. I'm what some people may call "useless," in the job market.
But guess what? I have a job.
So let's set some things straight about the millennial generation.
1. What a useless degree you have there
Believe it or not, there's more to life than bankers, lawyers, engineers, and doctors. You need people like me, people with a liberal arts education, to keep the world spinning. Teachers, are the obvious choice. But what about advertising companies, speech writers, journalists, translators. You name it. English degrees can get people into med school or law school, because a liberal arts education teaches you how to problem solve and view multiple perspective, all while thinking critically.
And even if you don't end up in one of those positions, the world would be a dull, uninteresting place without creative minds adding to it. Think about the creativity behind Benjamin Franklin's kite experiment, or the creative talent behind some of the things people most know and recognize. Read: logos, slogans, the songs that the radio likes to play five times every hour to get stuck in your head.
2. You're lazy. Get a job.
Do you know how difficult it is to get a job? A job that doesn't tear you down, doesn't wear you down, and allows you to pay for your student loans? Let me explain to you a thing. In America you need to go to college. Whereas it used to be optional, and CEOs from 1981 didn't need a college degree as long as they went to work every day, that's no longer the case. Nowadays you pretty much need a college education to get a job at McDonald's.
Think about why elementary and high schools are defunding liberal arts programs and focusing on the scary thing known as the "common core." Students have to be prepared to know how to read, write, and do maths or sciences. We're priming our students to be test-savvy, for a career in the medical, mechanical, or scientific fields. So that means more schooling.
But you can't go to community college, because that "doesn't look as good on a résumé as a full university does."
So you end up taking out loans and leaving school four years later with 50 thousand dollars in debt. But you were taking too many classes, so you could only work part time at Subway to pay your bills. Now you have to find a job.
And that question that every job application asks? "How much experience do you have?"
The phrase on every job listing ever? "Looking for 2-3 years experience," "Must have experience in x industry."
How am I supposed to get a job if I need experience? How am I supposed to get experience if I can't get a job?
It's a catch 22, and you only have 6 months to figure out a way to start paying back your student loans, so why not move back in with your parents? While you pay 2/3 of your pay check to the federal government for your loans (which barely covers the interest accrued), and the rest of it you spend on food or rent or bills?
3. You demand too much money
Woah.
Here's the thing. It's 2016. It isn't 1980 anymore.
In 1980 the average house cost 68 thousand dollars. Now? We're talking 346 thousand dollars. The average salary then? 12 grand.
Things are not the same anymore. The cost of living has skyrocketed, no thanks to the same generation that keeps complaining that Millennials are lazy and want too much money.
You used to be able to get away with making less than 12 grand a year. Now? You do that and you'd below the poverty threshold.
12 grand is in-state tuition for one semester at college, a college you're expected to attend. So when you exit more than 50k in the hole, and you only make $9.50 an hour, and you work over 40 hours a week, how is 16k enough to cover your living expenses and all of the debt you were ultimately forced to attain, so you could find a decent job?
So get off your high horse. Times have changed. So have expectations. People expect a decent, living wage. People are trying to find jobs that will fit their needs. We don't all lie around in bed all day watching rap music videos and sending sex messages to a million people.
We're people. And we're some of the most politically active, technologically savvy, creative minds out there. We will do amazing things, and that doesn't include tanking the economy and blowing up the housing market or destroying the environment, because some people have already done that.
And one day we will be taking care of you.
Or not. Maybe we will be too lazy to do so.
