Portrayed as lazy and self-centered in the media, Millennials get labeled as a generation full of narcissistic wimps who crave constant praising and attention.  They grew up coddled and praised for doing nothing; they were even given “participation awards” growing up. This caused them to become entitled, believing they deserve to get what they want.  These negative stereotypes are commonly placed on the generation as a whole by older generations. The Millennial generation consists of anyone born around 1980 to 2000, depending on the source.  Currently, they are young adults and will soon comprise the majority of workers in America.  The young adults of today are constantly criticized by older generations, who fail to see the positive qualities of the generation.  

Older generations, especially the Baby Boomers, seem to find fault in almost every characteristic of the Millennial generation.  They think today’s young adults are lazy, narcissistic, entitled, coddled, and obsessed with technology. And that’s not even all of the poor qualities assumed of the generation.  Millennials grew up coddled by their parents; they were told they were special and rewarded for not doing anything, just because it made them feel good about themselves.  While parents use this method in effort to instill self-confidence in their children, critics of Millennials consider this “coddling” and believe it caused Millennials to become entitled in their work lives.  Another typical criticism of the Millennial generation is that they are lazy.  They grew up with more technology in their lives than any previous generation.  Having access to this technology from a young age made life easy for the Millennial generation because they never had to live every day without the help of technology.  Most of all, older generations believe that Millennials are narcissistic and only care about themselves (Stein).  Despite the long list of negative qualities, Millennials actually are changing the world for the better.  Most of the negative stereotypes placed on Millennials are not true because the stereotypes are characteristics that can be viewed from a new perspective to prove it invalid or reveal a positive trait (DeVaney).  The Millennial generation is also the largest, most diverse generation in American history, so they have the potential to make great change in society, as long as they have the support they need.  

Statistics show that some of these negative qualities are true of Millennials.  In an article from Time Magazine, Joel Stein calls the Millennial generation, “The Me Me Me generation.”  He lists many statistics supporting the idea that Millennials are lazy, shallow, entitled, fame-obsessed, and narcissistic.  Despite all of the criticism on the Millennial generation, about halfway through the article Stein takes a turn.  He begins looking at the positive aspects of the generation.  He explains that the millennials did not choose to be born into technology they were given.  If the Boomers grew up with the technology of today’s society, they would be looked at as “narcissistic” too.   Millennials are obsessed with technology but Stein defends the Millennials, saying, “I think in many ways you're blaming millennials for the technology that happens to exist right now.’ Yes, they check their phones during class, but think about how long you can stand in line without looking at your phone. Now imagine being used to that technology your whole life and having to sit through algebra” (Stein).  It is not Millennials fault that they were born in a time of advanced technology.  Stein ends the article by explaining that data and statistics should not define the Millennial generation, and instead society should focus on how Millennials react to the challenges in society. Millennials are more accepting of differences than any other generation, which includes gay rights, minorities, and women’s rights. The generation has more positive traits than society realizes.  It is important that society supports Millennials so they understand that as a part of the largest, most educated generation in America, they have the opportunity to make a big impact on the world.

Compared to every generation that precedes them, Millennials are the largest, most diverse generation in the United States.  Millennials are commonly depicted as a “homogenous cliche” in pop culture.  However, the size and diversity of the generation make it impossible to label qualities to the entire group.  Some of them fit into the “narcissistic” and “lazy” mold, but the majority are very different.  Although this is true for most stereotypes, the issue with the stereotypes about Millennials is how companies are believing them and therefore treating their Millennial employees differently.  Older generations labeled the Millennial generation with these qualities because they don’t agree with how young people today work.  It has happened with every generation before as well, but unfortunately the criticism of Millennials is much worse.  Every generation enters the workforce believing they have unique qualities, but the older generations interpret their qualities as negative.  They criticize the way they work because it is different than how they do.  Even Socrates criticized the children of his time, “The children now love luxury.  They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise” (Socrates).  In the past, these stereotypes did not dictate how companies treated their prospective or new employees, but today this is sadly changing.  Today, there are hundreds of firms, authors, speakers, and experts claiming how millennials are different.  By attributing challenges in the workplace to generational differences, which are out of our control, it may provide companies to avoid addressing the more difficult workplace issues.

In reality, all people want the same thing at work, no matter the generation. Research shows that Millennials value the same things at work and have the same work goals as older generations.  In a Harvard Business Review article, “What Do Millennials Really Want at Work? The Same Things as Rest of Us Do,” Pfau explains the many similarities between the working attitudes and values of all generations. They are looking for purpose, feedback, and a good balance between work and their personal life.  In fact, a multigenerational study found that when asked about their most important long term goal, almost the same percentage of millennials chose “make a positive impact on my organization” as the most important, as generation Xers and Baby Boomers.  The other nine long term goals had profoundly similar percentages too. Millennials’ career goals are basically the same as Generation Xers and Baby Boomers’ goals, which means they’re not as radically different as everyone thinks.   While older generations have criticized Millennials for their differences, research shows that they actually aren’t that different.  Older workers are quick to find the problems with younger, inexperienced workers. Companies need to focus on individual workers’ and customers’ more discrete and meaningful characteristics, rather than just their birth year.

The most commonly believed stereotypes placed on Millennials are that they are entitled and narcissistic.  Looking back in history, it is easy to see that naming the young generations as entitled and narcissistic is becoming a tradition.  The Baby Boomers and Generation X were both criticized by the generations before them for being self-centered and entitled.  In a TED talk “Millennials- Why Are They the Worst?”, Kelly Williams Brown shows specific examples of this cycle of criticism on each generation.  One example is from New York Times, the article says, “The now generation has become the ME generation,” talking about the Baby Boomer generation (TEDx). The Millennial generation has been referred to as the “The Me Me Me generation,” which seems to emphasize they are even more narcissistic than the previous generations.  However, narcissism and entitlement are not traits that solely define the Millennial generation.  They are not unique qualities of the Millennial generation, but rather qualities many young people hold and will grow out of as they mature and become older.  As people grow older, their values change and they focus less of themselves.  With the Baby Boomers and Generation X, these stereotypes dissolved as the generation became older.  Most likely, Millennials will be labeled less narcissistic and entitled as they grow older.  Then it will be on to the next generation to criticize for being self-obsessed.  

While narcissism and entitlement are common traits of young people, they can also reveal self-confidence and a sense of self-worth.  Having confidence and a sense of self-worth actually leads to higher achievement, not less work ethic.  Do Millennials expect the world? Maybe, yes. But that level of self-confidence can lead to amazing, sometimes unexpected achievement.  Millennials demand a voice and are passionate in wanting to make a difference in the world.  In fact, an IBM verifies that more than a quarter of Millennials view being heard and having an impact as their number one career goal (Maio).  Millennials care deeply about society and have a strong desire to be a positive influence to it.  The common belief is that Millennials only care about themselves.  But research shows otherwise, “A hefty 84 percent of millennials made a charitable donation in 2014, and 70 percent spent at least an hour volunteering, according to the Millennial Impact Report by research group Achieve, which surveyed more than 2,500 millennial employees and managers” (Dowdy). They are not self-consumed, but rather the opposite, they want to be a positive force of change in other people’s lives.

Statistics do prove some of the “negative” traits of Millennials to be true.  But many of these negative traits can be looked at from a different perspective and become positive traits.  In the article “Millennials: What They Offer Our Organizations And How Leaders Can Make Sure They Deliver,” Dannar translates negative stereotypes of Millennials into positive values and traits.  One negative trait often thought to be true of millennials is entitlement. However, millennials are viewed as entitled only because that they have high expectations.  This does not mean that millennials expect to be given “free handouts.”  Instead, millennials just expect more of themselves and in result work harder to achieve their goals. Along with entitlement, the desire to be rewarded shows that they are ambitious and want to achieve more.  Optimism is not a bad thing to have in the workplace, as it can make people more self-confident and lead to higher achievement.  They don’t want to work for years and receive no promotion or reward for their work.  Millennials understand that promotions should not be based on the time spent in a company, but rather the impact they are making and how hard they work.  This is understandable, as hard work should be what is rewarded.  Companies need to be shown these translations from negative traits to positive traits so they can understand Millennials’ values and intentions in the workplace.

 While older generations tend to assume that Millennials are lazy, the truth is they value a work-life balance.  They are not lazy for wanting to have a work-life balance, they just value their health and friendships, as everyone should.  The reality is Millennials value their careers and their lives outside of work.  They believe people should work to live, not live to work.  Millennials value a work-life balance, but this does not mean they don’t work long hours.  In fact, the opposite may be true.  According to an Ernst & Young study, Millennial managers are adding more hours to their workweek than their Gen X and Baby Boomer counterparts (Maio). They just understand the importance of knowing when it is time to stop working and take care of themselves.  Millennials value their happiness, so they know that they need to have a job that they find meaning from.  While they do care about job security, enjoying what they do is more important.  Millennials are known to “job hop,” which is not spending much time at one job.  This is not because they are lazy but rather because they respect themselves.  Working a job with no meaning can make people miserable. Studies show that, “Gen X feel they just going through the motions of collecting a paycheck” (Donohue).  Generation Xers are unhappy in their jobs, but they still stay because their generation values loyalty in order to receive promotions. But if Millennials have to move from job to job in order to find one job that will make them happy, then they will do it.

Technology is thought to be the major cause of the Millennials’ laziness.  But research shows it actually is just helping them be more efficient in their work.  Another article that shows Millennials’ positive traits is “Understanding the Millennial Generation” by Sharon A. Devaney.  Devaney shows how the negative traits thought to be true of Millennials can be translated into positive characteristics of the generation.  She specifically goes into the topic of technology.  Technology has made the Millennial’s lives much easier, giving them access to find much quicker ways to complete tasks.  It is true that technology has made life easier than it was for the older generations, but that does not mean Millennials are lazy.  According to a PWC study on Millennials, “78% said access to the technology they like to use makes them more effective at work” (Modo Labs). According to older generations, Millennials are “lazy” for using technology to do things that were more difficult to do in the past.  But in reality, they are smart for seeing the easier option and using it. 

Millennials were “coddled” growing up, being told that everyone is special and were even given “participation awards” in sports, even if they didn’t do anything.  Many think that this styles of upbringing caused Millennials to become entitled.  While it may have caused some Millennials to believe they deserve rewards for doing less work, many became optimistic and self-confident as a result.  They know that they can achieve whatever they work hard for because their parents instilled this self-confidence in them as a child.  One common example, that older generations use to support the laziness of Millennials, is that Millennials ask for promotions early in their career.  They think that Millennials believe they deserve a promotion regardless of work ethic.  Millennials may ask for promotions but they are not expecting to be handed a higher salary or position.  They just like check in to see if they are doing enough, and if not, how they can work differently to eventually receive that promotion.  They had constant affirmation when they were growing up, so a lack of it can make them feel they are doing something wrong. Another criticism addressed in this article is the fact that many Millennials still live with their parents as adults.  While the statistics show this is true, they are not living with their parents because they can’t grow up.  Today, college students graduate with more debt than ever before. Unemployment rates are record high as well, which makes it almost impossible for Millennials to support themselves on their own.   By living with their parents for a few years, Millennials can begin to pay off their debt and gain stability of their finances.  The economy today makes moving out difficult for Millennials, it is not their fault they may have to move home for a short time.  Older generations may see this as lazy and irresponsible, but in reality living with their parents is the smart choice for Millennials in the long run. 

Despite all the criticism Millennials receive, many still remain optimistic, self-confident, and ready to make a change.  In the article “Economic Uncertainty, Job Threat, and the Resiliency of the Millennial Generation’s Attitudes Towards Immigration,” the author explains Millennials support immigration despite their financial struggles.  The opinions on immigration is greatly divided in America today, but Millennials tend to be more accepting to immigration than older generations.  Millennials still support immigration, even with the unemployment rates being high and struggling to find jobs themselves.  One would think Millennials would be against immigration because they want to keep the job market open for them to find a job.  But Millennials tend to be more liberal and accept others because they think that everyone deserves an equal opportunity (Ross).  Millennials are spending more time in a prolonged life stage between being an adult and teenager.  Part of this is due to unemployment rates and living at home longer.  It is also due to the fact that more people go to college for longer now.  More and more people are going back to school to receive higher graduate education.  The unemployment rates make it difficult to find a stable job, so Millennials spend much of their 20s trying to figure out where they belong.  They travel and try new things to help them discover who they are as a person. 

Overall, the majority of the negative stereotypes created about the Millennial generation can be proved false.  The Millennial generation is the largest, most diverse generation America has ever had, so stereotypes cannot possibly define each individual.  Most of the characteristics thought to be as negative, can actually be viewed from a new perspective and become positive aspects of the generation.  If all of the made-up generalizations about Millennials are to be believed, then society is doomed.  But Millennials’ optimism, self-confidence, and ambition are good strengths that bring hope for a better future.
