The Millennials Have Gotten a Bad Rap

Finally, a decent and sensible article on the Millennial generation! Common folklore depicts the entire generation as disrespectful of authority, disdainful of rules and process, texting all day and refusing to work when they don't feel like it. This stereotype never did line up with my experience with them during my years as a University Professor.

Drawing on recent research, Rob Preston of Informationweek, dispells some of these misconceptions. The research focused primarily on the relationship between the Millenials and IT departments but extends beyond that. The expectation was that this would be a highly contentious relationship, given the high level of the new generation's technology skills, not to mention their expectations. Not so, says the research. The young people give the IT departments high marks, except for the slowness of response times (which frustrates most of us). They do tend to resolve more issues themselves. But since when has this been a bad thing?

The research also indicates that the 20 somethings generation entering the workforce has a greater respect for their elders than previous generations did. In particular they mention their elders' moral values and work ethic as being good.

We all know that we need to watch ourselves when forming stereotypes. As Mr Preston points out, a generation consists of many different types of people, with different values and skills and personalities. We know this, but often it gets lost in the writings about a whole generation.

The Preston article is worth a moment of your time and some reflection.