I have been meaning to write this post for a long time, so I’m so happy to finally share my thoughts with you.  As you know, the Generation Y are those born somewhere after 1982 (according to wikipedia) and the early 90′s.  We are an often talked about bunch, probably because we are the child by-product of the baby boomer generation.

Generation Y Generalizations

Other people in the workplace view Generation Y as the super speedy multi-tasking generation. We are good with technology, type at warp speeds, and are often seen multi-tasking. In fact, at my workplace, one of my baby boomer colleagues calls me “Matrix” because she thinks I type so fast.

Generation Y is often labeled as “lazy” too, because we give off the impression that we want to get paid top dollar while at the same time doing as little work as possible. We want to rise in the work place as fast as possible. We are skipping from job to job to job, often lasting at a workplace for only abut 1-2 years before we move up the ranks to another job. This is in contrast to the baby boomer generation, where they moved their way up slowly after a time span of 20+ years to get where they are at now.

Generation Y also are an entrepreneurial bunch.  I think this stems from wanting to live a life where we aren’t in the rat race for 30+ years.  Generation Y are the geniuses behind many start up internet companies, let alone start up companies in general.  We tend to live and breathe instant gratification, which is probably why we aren’t saving any money.

The Problem

Because Generation Y employees are seen as lazy and wanting to get everything for nothing, I think there can be a lot of resentment from the other generations (baby boomers, generation X to name a few) towards us.  They have worked hard for YEARS to get where they are at now, and here we are, jumping in with unbridled enthusiasm and doing their job better than them.  I think Generation Y has a lot going for us- we are ambitious, determined, great at multi-tasking.  However, we have short attention spans (thanks to being used to doing homework with the television and music on simultaneously) and get bored easily.  We need to change the way other people in the workplace view us, show them that they are pigeonholing us into a category unfairly.

So, now that we know what Generaion Y is like, this begs the question- how do we co-exist harmoniously in our workplace?

How to Co-Exist Harmoniously with your Non-Generation Y Colleagues

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I was checking this post by Studenomics that talked about why Twenty Somethings are not saving money and being of the same generation Y/ 20 something category, I got to thinking…

In the past, Canadians have traditionally saved about 10% of their gross income and stashed it away in their piggy banks. Currently, the savings rate is about 0% (or with a net negative percentage). In China, it’s 30%. For some reason, we are not saving money any more!

Really, why AREN’T we 20-somethings saving money? Why IS there a disparity between the savings of Generation X and Generation Y?

I personally have a few hypotheses myself.

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