My career in publishing began at a national consumer magazine for executive women, when the MBA rode high in corporate America. I remember articles we published about the tension between the generation of women who originally broke the glass ceiling to the executive suite and its generation of successors. The younger group was accused of taking its managerial (and earning) potential for granted to the chagrin of those who fought and bled to get there.
What goes around comes around. Now, the tension arises between Gen Y (the “entitled millennial generation”) and those who came before—the boomers ironically in the younger age range above and their children (for more, see “You’ve Got a Friend”). Generational and workplace experts repeatedly have said Gen Y members “expect” cutting-edge technology, and if they don’t get it, they’ll move on. A similar worried theme ran through industry conferences I’ve attended in recent years.
A 2007 opinion article on CIO.com, written by a member of Gen Y, unabashedly made the same point: “So don’t give me your tired old enterprise apps. I want the new stuff because it’s better. If you don’t give me the tools I need, I’ll leave you flat and find someone who will. If you can’t understand that, I don’t want to work for you because you don’t get it and chances are you never will.”
While the younger women in the first scenario above certainly had their share of arrogance and ingratitude—youthful disdain for elders is hardly a new phenomenon—I suppose what made this article memorable was the in-your-face scorn and nastiness.
What a difference a year made. Nobody saw the recession coming—especially not Gen Y, which never experienced one. So, what now? Being on the lower earning rungs, Gen Y may be spared unemployment, but if the millennials are unemployed (or not), they are lean on experience (whether they know it or not) and may have a tough time competing in an employers’ market. And the longer this environment lasts, the tougher it will be.
Wanting access to the latest and greatest tools out there is perfectly understandable. But experience really is the best teacher and reality has its way of changing expectations. Insurers cannot and should not stay mired in the past or even the present, but for the near term, economic realities prevail—a new scenario for the new generation.
Perhaps a more urgent factor to consider in the bigger picture today than the millennial employee is the millennial customer—therein lies revenue for both today and tomorrow. At least for now, that’s where it makes a lot of sense to be bold in technology spending. And as Gen Y matures, becoming the “old folks” in a very few years, Gen Z will be on its way. And the same but different cycle will start all over again—but then Gen Y will have to deal with it.