Millennials

The term Generation Y refers to a specific cohort of individuals born from 1980-1994 (although this is disputed by demographers and varies across countries). "Generation Y" alludes to a succession from Generation X, a term which was originally coined as a pejorative label by the Canadian fiction writer Douglas Coupland in 1991.

Generation Y are primarily children of the Baby boomers and Generation Jones (US only), though some are children of older Gen X adults.

Generation Y defined demographically

United States of America

The term “echo boom” (used in reference to Gen Y) refers to a five year span between 1989 and 1993 when for the first time since 1964, the number of live births in the US reached over four million. Previously, even the rate of 1965 (3.76 million) was not reached until 1985. Also, the birthrate of 1971 (17.2 million) has yet to be reached according to the 2000 US census. If the years 1976–2000 are used, as is common in market research, then the size of Generation Y in the United States is approximately 76 million.

Australia

In 1980 the number of births again began to increase gradually hitting a peak of 264,000 births in 1992 – the highest number of birth since 1972. The births then dropped away through the rest of the 1990’s before beginning a recovery in 2002 which signals the start of Generation Z.

Generation Y defined sociographically

If Gen Y-ers weren’t so exposed to Facebook, MySpace and SMS technologies they would unarguably be less peer oriented, and if fewer of them had 24 hour internet access, they would not be so well-known for being the instant generation that they are. That’s because the generations are shaped by the events, leaders, developments and trends of their times. Everyone is shaped by their times to varying degrees, despite how they are raised, their socioeconomic status and other factors.

Presidents & Prime Ministers	Iconic Technology	TV & Movies	Celebrities	Social Markers/Landmark Events	Leaders & Role Models	Trends in Fashion	Scientific Discoveries & Breakthroughs
Bill Clinton, USA	Internet	Titanic	Brad Pitt	September 11, 2001	John Paul II	Neon colours	Discovery of HIV, 1980s
John Howard, Australia	SMSing	Pay TV	Nicole Kidman	New Millenium, 2000	Saddam Hussein	Cargo pants	Genetic fingerprinting, 1984
Tony Blair, UK	DVD	Reality TV	Kylie Minogue	Death of Princess Diana, 1997	Vladimir Putin	The 'Rachael' and 'flat top' haircuts	The theory that an asteroid impact caused the extinction of dinosaurs is put forward, 1980

Trends among members

As with previous generations, many trends (and problems) began to surface as members of Generation Y came of age.

• Members of this generation are facing higher costs for higher education than previous generations.

• In Australia, members of this generation have been labeled the "houseless generation" because of rising house costs and expectations which have prevented many Gen Y-ers from purchasing their first home. While 65% of Australians aged 25-39 had managed to purchase their first home in the late 80s, only 50% of this age group have managed to be first home owners today.

• The Boomers have been labeled the "sandwich generation" because so many of their Gen Y offspring remain home well into their 20s right at the time that their own parents (the Builders) are needing more care. They also enjoy sandwiches.

• The Gen Y of Australia has been labeled the most educated generation in history because of record-high Year 12 retenion rates (77%) and university enrolments.

• As members of Generation Y in the United States begin to enter colleges and universities in large numbers, some of their Baby Boomer parents are becoming helicopter parents. Many college advisors and administrators worry that this could have a negative effect on Generation Y's social progress, ego, and developing maturity.

• Business owners in Australia feel that members of Generation Y were found to be "demanding, impatient and bad at communicating," according to a 2007 survey. The survey found that almost 70% of those surveyed found their Generation Y workers to be dissatisfying, with poor spelling and grammar and no understanding of appropriate corporate behaviors. However, the survey also showed most employers praised the energy and charisma of their Generation Y workers.

• Gen Y represents more than 70 million consumers in the United States. They earn a total annual income of about $211 billion spend approximately $172 billion per year** and considerably influence many adult consumer buying choices. They also face a greater degree of direct corporate predation than any other generation in history.

• A 2008 survey by UK recruitment consultancy FreshMinds Talent in partnership with Management Today suggested that Generation Y are generally more ambitious, brand conscious and tend to move jobs more often than ever before. The survey of over 1,000 people, entitled Work 2.0, also revealed several misconceptions about Generation Y, including that they are as loyal as their predecessors and believe that their job says something about them as individuals.

• Generation Y has experienced family breakdown (one in two marriages now end in divorce in Australia) and increasing rates of mothers out to work at levels unmatched by the formative years of older generations. Not all of them have had the support from home that their parents and grandparents had. This has led them to be more peer-oriented. This is why workplace culture is so important to Gen Y workers (see above under Generation Y at work).

Generation Y at work

Fouteen percent of Australia's workforce population are Gen Y-ers. By 2020, Generation Y will comprise 42% - or the majority - of the workforce. Below, the trends currently facing Gen Y workers are outlined.

Gen Y-ers - not their jobs - are in demand

Generation Y are currently entering a workforce were they - rather than jobs - are in demand. This, of course, has to do with the ageing of the workforce which is projected to only get worse, peaking in the 2020s. The current average age of an Australian worker is 39.

The growing demand for workers is not confined to Australia – or even the western world. The war for talent is a global one. The median age of 63 countries is currently between 30 and 42.

Gen Y-ers have big, Boomer shoes to fill

Australia is currently experiencing the biggest generational shifts that have been seen for six decades. Generation Y have big shoes to fill with the oldest of the Baby Boomers, Australia's largest generation, now exiting the workforce, leaving big voids to be filled. The year 2008 marked the point in Australia when more people exited the workforce than entered it. It is predicted that by 2020, there will be 500,000 jobs without any one to do them. The point is that over the next 18 years this huge generation will all sail past 60 and ease out of the workforce leaving a very significant labour and management void.

Gen Y is the options generation

With the demand for workers ever growing, Gen Y have many options to play with when it comes to employment. Because they have so many options - far more than their Boomer parents and Builder grandparents ever dreamed of - Gen Y-ers do not stay in jobs - or careers! - for very long.

While almost half of Baby Boomers believe employees should stay in a job for at least five years, only one in four Y-ers would consider staying five years. Furthermore, in 1959 average tenure across all ages and industries was 15 years, while today average tenure is just over four years. In their lifetime, Gen Y-ers will have over 5 careers over 29 employers and be self-employed at least once.

Gen Y has re-defined work-life

Traditionally, one would complete the education stage, move into the working years and perhaps after a career change or two head into retirement. In contrast, the lives of Gen Y-ers are more of a mosaic of different roles, phases and careers. Today, the education phase extends well into adulthood, and throughout the work life. Gen Y may retrain several times with these careers taking them to other states and countries.

Gen Y-ers know what's good for them

According to a study of Gen Y-ers, renumeration and job security are no longer on the top of the list of worforce needs. This demonstartes how the above workforce trends such as increasing options have impacted on what workers look for in a job.

In order of importance, this is what Gen Y look for:

1. Work-life balance
2. Workplace culture
3. Varied job role
4. Management style
5. Training

Generation Y & technology

In their recent book, Reynol Junco and Jeanna Mastrodicasa (2007) found that in a survey of 7,705 college students in the US:

• 97% own a computer
• 94% own a cell phone
• 76% use Instant Messaging.
• 15% of IM users are logged on 24 hours a day/7 days a week
• 34% use websites as their primary source of news
• 28% own a blog and 44% read blogs
• 49% download music using peer-to-peer file sharing
• 75% of college students have a Facebook account
• 60% own some type of portable music and/or video device such as an iPod.

The Internet generation

Main article: Internet generation

In his book Growing Up Digital, business strategist and psychologist Don Tapscott coined the term "Net Generation" for the group, pointing at the significance of being the first to grow up immersed in a digital and Internet driven world.

Generation Y-ers are commonly referred to as digital natives (as coined by Marc Prensky, although this is often argued), as are the upcoming Generation Z, because they have lived their entire lives immersed in digital technologies.

Digital Aliens	Digital Immigrants	Digital Adaptives
The Builders (1920-1945) were latecomers to technology. The internet, podcasts, SMS, online gaming and wireless neworks are largely alien concepts to them.	The Baby Boomers (1946-1964) are digital immigrants who reached adulthood without digital technology. While many embrace new technologies, some do so reluctantly.	Digital technologies began to emerge (in a mass sense) largely during the teen years of Generation X (1965-1979) - the 1980s. Generation X willingly embraces the technologies they saw evolve into consumer durables.

Gen Y labels

The various labels given the generations reflect the times which have shaped their generational profile. The names given the Builders reflect the events that shaped them (the World Wars and the Depression); the Boomer labels, the population boom following World War II and the shedding of moral codes after the sexual revolution of the 60s and 70s (the love generation and the lost generation, for example); the X labels, the material prosperity of the times (the options generation) and the after-math of the sexual revolution (the baby-busters), and the Y labels, the digital age that heralded in its birth.

The labels:

• The millennials
• Net generation
• Dot.com generation
• Echo boomers
• iGeneration
• Google generation
• Myspace generation
• Mypod generation
• Nintendo Generation
• The cynical generation
• The connected generation
• The digital natives
• Click ‘n go kids
• Generation whY
• Generation C
• The content generation
• The celebrity generation
• The code generation
• The apathetic generation
• Ygen
• Gyen
• The houseless generation

See also

• Baby Boomer
• Generation X
• Generation Z
• Generation Einstein
• Generation

External links

• Collection of Articles on Generation Y
• USA Today
• The "Millennials" Are Coming
• Millennial Fact Sheet By the Deloitte consulting group.
• Employee Evolution: the Voice of Millennials at Work
• Millennial Leaders Blog
• MillennialGeneration.org Blog
• Generation Y's Goal: Wealth and fame?
• "A new switched-on and cynical generation"Peter West - Monday, 12 December 2005
• Attracting the twentysomething worker
• For more on Generation Y and other generations