In Defense of Millennials

The “Me, me, me” generation, “narcissists,” “entitled” — when people describe Millennials, it’s often not favorably.

In fact, there’s been so much criticism of this generation that Millennial Heather Elliot left this grateful response when I mentioned a few of their positive attributes in a recent post:

"I was happy to read what you wrote about the Millennials and how well you worded it. Too often I feel that potential employers look at Millennials as a burden or an employment liability. We are viewed as not being prepared to fit into the current workplace structure…”

I work with some amazing Millennials every day and my own Millennial son just went off to college, so I hate to think that people are generalizing his generation as a burden rather than a blessing. Regardless of what decade we were born in, we should be seeking to understand and support each other — especially when it’s easier than ever to start a business thanks to the Internet, and (as Porter Gale says) the intern sitting next to you could be a CEO tomorrow.

The constant commentary on Millennials inspired me to write a new post; one that defends this generation and highlights areas in which they’re leading the way — never before, for example, has there been such an entrepreneurial generation (click on the graphic above for more on this).

Millennials are navigating a challenging landscape, and one that they inherited

The rules and economic dynamics change with every generation, but perhaps never quite so drastically as they have this time around. In an article about Millennial frustrations, Business Insider went so far as to say: “This is the generation that watched people from [Obama’s] generation crash the economy. This group is still reeling from its effects.” With the unemployment rate still at 7%, it more important than ever to proactively navigate the job market.

Are there Millennials who may need a little talking to? Of course. But every generation has those members. I was reading a post from my friend Jason Nazar that covers things 20-somethings “don’t get” yet. Jason’s eloquent words are really about sharing life lessons he’s learned, but there was a powerful response from Millennial Brandon Tabor that’s worth including here:

“Gen Y has to do things different because they’re given different opportunities. [Gen Y] grew up in a time when BOTH parents were busy building careers. And they graduated college only to enter a failing economy. Generation Y is not perfect, but neither is Generation X. Both generations have a lot to learn from each other. But remember, Gen Y is living in the world Gen X built.”

Understanding and learning from Millennials needs to be a priority

I care about Millennials personally, but also as someone who is invested in the future of our businesses. Why? There are 80 million Millennials, and this generation will be 75% of the workforce by the year 2025. Given that three-quarters of the workforce will be Millennials in slightly over a decade, we need to start listening and learning from this generation.

Going back to Heather’s comment, she closes with: “...the truth is that, due to the volume of [Millennials] entering the job market, it is corporations that need to look at ways to integrate their younger employees. We need to meet in the middle.”

Secondly, we need to understand Millennials not only because they are the future of our workforce, but because they’ve only known a connected world. They are the first generation of professionals who are Digital Natives, and this means they’re comfortable working in new and innovative ways that we should be learning from.

Finally, as I said in my last post, “Take every chance thrown your way to gain knowledge.” I’ve certainly not only learned, but also been inspired by my conversations with Millennials. Perhaps they’re not being narcissistic, but rather they have the bold attitude it takes to make an impact and build businesses.

Here are a few highlights of what Millennials are teaching us:

Be entrepreneurial - In surveying Millennial professionals working on oDesk, we found that 58% considered themselves “entrepreneurs.” The very definition of what it means to be an entrepreneur is changing, shifting to more of a “mindset,” rather than just someone who starts a company. And this mindset is shaping the youngest generation of our workforce to such an extent that, after reading our Millennial Survey results, Gene Marks wrote an Inc. column proposing that Millennials be renamed the “Entrepreneur Generation.” In the column, Gene uses his Millennial neighbor Adam as an example and says:

“I don't mean that Adam will one day own his own business or risk everything on a start-up. He may never become rich, invent the next Facebook, or come up with something like Bang With Friends (and for that you should be grateful). But he, like most in his generation, has been raised to be more entrepreneurial than my generation."

Be more collaborative - Millennials have a spirit of working together in order to benefit all. They are the main participants in the “sharing economy.” Far from being selfish and spoiled, we’ve seen this generation move away from ownership and move towards conscious consumption and better collaboration. Millennial Austin Church, an entrepreneur who happens to be an oDesk customer, captured this powerfully when he said to me just yesterday:

“I think collaboration, rather than competition, defines the Millennial generation. More and more people are realizing that good ideas aren't worth much. In fact, they're worthless without execution. And to execute, you need help. And to get help, you have to be willing to trust other people. The combative posture inherent to competition in business doesn't get you very far these days.”

Craft independent career paths - The average age of oDesk freelancers is 28 years old, which means that — already — the majority of online workers are Millennials. MBO Partners predicts that by 2020, more than half the U.S. workforce will be independent. The fact that more people are building independent careers like these professionals is certainly being driven by economic forces (see this PBS segment that concludes with: “The only way to survive in the new economy is to be flexible”), but this is also a sort of entrepreneurialism. As I also said in my last post, there is one person in charge of your career destiny today, and that person is you. Millennials are leading the way in building their personal brands and careers so that they own their professional paths, while still figuring out ways to help each other out as they go.

Make a difference - Social entrepreneurship is a concept born of Millennials, who are creating a new business ethos focused on positively impacting the world. To round out thoughts here, check out this Harvard Business Review post and the video below from Millennial Branding’s Dan Schawbel, who released a career guidebook for Millennials yesterday. Dan cites powerful statistics such as:

• 7/10 Millennials have participated in volunteer work
• 8/10 Millennials donated money, goods or services last year
• More than 8/10 Millennials say helping make a positive difference in the world is more important than professional recognition
• 84% of Millennials view making a positive difference in the world as more important than professional recognition

Are Millennials the only generation these apply to? Of course not. But I am addressing Millennials because the conversation between the generations doesn’t feel like it’s an open flow of learning yet. As Millennials build more businesses, take more positions of leadership and extend their impact on the world, I have no doubt we’ll revise our notions of this generation and learn a lot from them.

Do you agree or disagree with me? I’d love to hear from members of all generations...

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Gary Swart is the CEO of oDesk, the world’s largest online workplace.