After X Comes Y - echo boom generation enters workforce - Brief Article

HR Magazine, April, 2001 by Julie Wallace

The impact of Generation X on the workplace was a hot topic in the early and mid-1990s. A slew of books and articles noted that the then 20-somethings didn't operate in the work environment the same way as the preceding baby boom generation. Soon HR will begin to see similar publications detailing the work habits and preferences of the rather unimaginatively titled Generation Y. (The group is also sometimes referred to as the Millennials or the Echo Boomers.)

The older members of Generation Y, consisting of those individuals born between 1976 and 1995, are entering the workforce now. With 70 million members, Generation Y is almost as large a demographic group in the United States as the baby boomers, a group that boasts upwards of 76 million individuals.

By comparison, Generation X, with only 41 million members, is relatively small. Yet, for such a small group, no one will dispute the magnitude of the changes that have occurred under its influence.

The sheer size of Generation Y indicates that the group is likely to have an even stronger influence on the workplace. Early signs indicate that HR professionals may struggle initially to deal with some of Generation Y's attitudes toward the work place. Generation Y individuals have very strong opinions about the ideal career path. They aren't terribly interested in climbing the corporate ladder. For example, a recent survey by Arthur Andersen, titled "Bringing Girls into Corporate America," found that teenage girls are wholly unimpressed with corporate life. Instead, girls are more likely to express a preference for a career in public service or in a small business.

Recruiters also are finding that Generation Yers often begin their careers with different expectations than workers from previous generations. Patty Nelson, director of staffing at Tektronix, a Beaverton, Ore.-based technology company, notes that the most recent batch of college students seems to be remarkably confident. They have watched college graduates in recent years receive multiple job offers, eye-popping starting salaries and even stock options. As a result, Generation Y feels perfectly comfortable negotiating higher salaries, often leveraging multiple job offers to command extra perks such as signing bonuses.

Unfortunately, the aggressive campus recruiting and large starting salaries can be misleading, and many new college hires are disillusioned to find that, in spite of the executive level recruitment efforts, they are still starting in entry-level positions. Nelson has noticed that many Generation Y recruits experience a sort of reality check six months into their careers, realizing that they do, in fact, have a lot to learn before they're ready for the executive suite.

In addition, while Generation Xers lived through the loss of life time employment within a corporation, Generation Yers begin their careers with the assumption that they will be changing jobs frequently. As a result, Nelson has observed that new college recruits frequently enter the workplace with a short term career outlook, without any goals of developing within their job or even within their first company.

HR get ready: Generation Y workers will transform the work place, just like the workers from the generations before them. They will bring remarkable technical skills, a strong entrepreneurial outlook, a deep-seated social consciousness, and, like every "new" generation, a healthy dose of questioning and change.

Julie Wallace is manager of work place trends and forecasting at SHRM.