Spoiled, sheltered, entitled 鈥撀爅ust some of the words sometimes used to describe young people that fall into the millennial generation, those born in 1980 or later.
But is there any evidence to support these claims? Is there real data to suggest millennials have impractical career expectations and over-the-top salary expectations, like the baby boomers and generations Xers imply?
Ed Ng, associate professor in the Faculty of Management, along with colleagues from the University of Guelph and Carleton University, surveyed over 3,000 Canadians as part of the . Their three-year study asked participants to describe career experiences and answer questions about job expectations and priorities, with the hope of discovering how different generations view expectations, experiences, attitudes and outcomes as their careers progress.
鈥淭here鈥檚 been a very interesting shift in workplace dynamics,鈥� says Dr. Ng. 鈥淭he baby boomers are supposed to have retired by now but since the economy is bad and we鈥檝e done away with mandatory retirement, boomers are sticking around longer. Now you have baby boomers, generation Xers, and millenials all working under the same roof with very different workplace behaviours.鈥�
The researchers surveyed members of four successive generations: matures, born before 1945; baby boomers, born between 1946-1964; generation Xers, born between 1965-1979; and millenials, born between 1980-1992.
Shifting expectations
While some discoveries came as no surprise to researchers鈥攆or example, matures want to stay relevant and leave behind legacies鈥攐thers had the researchers scratching their heads.
鈥淚t became clear to us that gen-Xers were the most unhappy of the generations,鈥� says Dr. Ng, when asked about outcomes that surprised him. 鈥淚f you think about it, they鈥檙e sandwiched between making headway in their careers, raising a family, and taking care of aging parents. This creates a very unhappy situation.鈥澛�
鈥淲e also found it interesting that millennials placed such a high emphasis on work-life balance,鈥� he continues. 鈥淭hese are people who typically aren鈥檛 married, have no kids, and very little responsibility. What we found was that they placed high importance on leisure activities. Millennials expect an average of five years off work for child-rearing and travel activities, on top of high salary expectations.鈥�
The study found that the average expected first-year salary for millennials entering the workforce was $48,860 for men and $42,060 for women. While those numbers aren't entirely unreasonable, millennials expect a substantial increase in salary over the first five years of their career, with their yearly income increasing to $84,868 for men and $67,766 for women. They also expect their salaries to peak at $171,036 and $125,664 respectively; according to Statistics Canada, only 4 per cent of Canadians earn more than $100,000 each year.
Mobility and workplace habits
Dr. Ng says while it鈥檚 not uncommon for a millennial to have between three and four employers over 10 years, boomers and gen-Xers are much more 鈥榣oyal鈥� to their employers.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e a millennial moving around, you鈥檙e progressive. If you鈥檙e a Boomer moving around, you鈥檙e a flight risk.鈥�
There are also often some big differences between millennials and boomers in workplace habits and patterns.
鈥淏oomers show up to work at 8:30 a.m., take their one-hour lunch, and leave at 4:30 p.m. Millennials stroll in at 9:30 a.m. or 10 a.m. and may stay until 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. Boomers see this as sloppy, so there can be a lot of conflict in the workplace when you have both generations working side-by-side.鈥� 聽
Employers are working hard to figure out what millennials want, says Dr. Ng. Organizations are changing their policies and practices to better suit the needs and wants of the upcoming workforce.
Although the differences between generational career patterns are like night and day, the work priorities that are on every generation鈥檚 list include interesting work, job security, benefits, achievements, supportive supervisors, salary, and having the necessary information to do one鈥檚 job. 聽
You can read the full report on the .