Are you a Millennial?
Are you a Millennial? If I had to answer that question, I would say that I am not a Millennial. I am not saying this because I don’t want to be assumed to have similar “tendencies”as Millennials. I say this because I am one of those lucky people who is caught in the year that Generation X ended and the Millennial generation started. Depending on who you talk to, depending on what website you read, I (or you) may or may not fall in to the Millennial generation time frame. If you are a Millennial, there is nothing wrong with that, it just means that you were born between the years that has been identified as the Millennial generation.
What is the definition of a generation?
A generation is a group of people born around the same time and raised around the same place. People in this “birth cohort” exhibit similar characteristics, preferences, and values over their lifetimes.
- a body of living beings constituting a single step in the line of descent from an ancestor
- a group of individuals born and living contemporaneously
- a group of individuals having contemporaneously a status (such as that of students in a school) which each one holds only for a limited period
- a type or class of objects usually developed from an earlier type
Generations exhibit similar characteristics—such as communication, shopping, and motivation preferences—because they experienced similar trends at approximately the same life stage and through similar channels (e.g., online, TV, mobile, etc.). Generation-shaping trends are most influential as people come of age, which means that members of a particular generation will develop and share similar values, beliefs, and expectations.
Three key trends that shape generations
The three key trends that shape generations are parenting, technology, and economics. For example, many Baby Boomers have the parenting philosophy, “We want it to be easier for our kids than it was for us.” This philosophy, in turn, helped create and reinforce Millennials’ sense of entitlement, which is now a hotly debated topic.
“We want it to be easier for our kids than it was for us.”
There are at least four generations out there right now that most of us interact with on a regular basis. If you are in the work force then you are more likely to be interaction with these different generations.
Traditionalists or Silent Generation
Born 1945 and before
current population estimated 28 million
helped shape 20th century pop culture, with pioneering rock musicians, iconic filmmakers, television legends, beat poets, gonzo journalists and groundbreaking political satirists
Baby Boomers
Born 1946 to 1965
current population estimated 75 million
named for an uptick in the post-WWII birth rate and was the largest generation until 1999 when the Millennial generation surpassed them
Generation X
Born 1966 to 1985
current population estimated 65 million
the “middle child” of generations – caught between two larger generations of the Millennials and the Boomers.
Millennials or Gen Y
Born 1986 to 2005
current population estimated 79 million
currently the largest population for a generation
So this brings me to why I am writing about Millennials.
Have you wondered why Millennials are getting so much attention now?
I have been thinking about this a lot lately. I am seeing more and more blogs use the word “millennial” as a part of there blog name. In the last two years, Millennials have become the largest generation in the U.S. workforce. Millennials are also the fastest-growing generation of customers in the marketplace, bringing the greatest lifetime value. In addition, Millennials exhibit different attitudes toward employment, sales, and marketing, which are challenging many conventional strategies and approaches. No wonder everyone’s talking about Millennials—but are they really different?
You can do your own research on finding answers for these questions. There are a lot of psychologists that I know have opinions on these questions. Everyone’s answer on how to “deal” with the Millennials will be different. This will ultimately be your own decision.How and why are they different? What can employers, marketers, politicians, educators, and parents do?
What does this all mean… Millennials are going to be making changes to our world becuaes they will be the leading generation due to there population. There may be a lot of bad rap on Millennial but they are bigger then the baby bummers. There influence is going to be huge in the coming years as more of the Millennials join the work force, get married and have children of there own. There will be more Millennials in the work force sooner then we realize.
Millennials, don’t get to excited about making all these decisions. I know many Millennials are eager to become the next CEO and make these decisions now. But hold on… your time is coming. Lets give these older generations a few more years.
Millennials you have something to look out for, too: the next generation. Known as Gen Z, Generation Z, iGen, or Centennials, this new group of people is making big waves in all the ways a generation possibly could—including parenting, education, employment, entrepreneurship, sales, marketing, politics, religion, and more. This next generation includes my first born, so watch out for them. Remember karma, what comes around goes around. Of course I think this is me as a protective mother speaking.
No matter the generation you are in, know that you are unique in your own way. Each generation has good and bad traits so although right now it might appear the Millennial generation is getting “picked” on. You really are not, its just that time for the older generations to recognize you for your uniqueness.
So all in all…
You’ve Gotta Love Millennials
Note: The years identified for each generation may vary depending on source.
