I spend a good deal of time researching the myths and stereotypes about Millennials. Some are fair. Some are unfair. Some are accurate. Some are just plain stupid. In reality, no one perception can be representative of all 81 million people. It is rare, however, that I come across the writings a Millennial who seems to reinforce what many of her age peers desire to dismiss. But that happened last week.
Erin Heilman, writing a guest editorial in the Baltimore Sun, proceeds to lecture employers on her generations’ expectations for a working relationship. She writes in part, “We are the generation rising. And soon we will be the VPs, the CEOs. And you’ll see a new kind of workplace, where family comes first. Because when you think millennials are the ‘me’ generation, you miss the point . . . think what you might about millennials. We are the optimistic future. While you ponder the good old days and tell me ‘that’s what’s wrong with the world today,’ I will continue to make the world better.”
My first reaction was shock at her arrogance. But I concluded that this is more about her ignorance of the corporate world. Every firm knows that employee expectations are changing. But young people who use a battering ram to effect this change simply polarize the workplace. Perhaps she should study the context of today’s workplace before attempting to singlehandedly overhaul it.
It’s been said, unjustly so, that the Millennial generation is a cohort of entitled do-nothings. Ironically, Ms. Heilman appears to be leading that charge. I’ve thought about the disservice this young woman is doing to her generation by reinforcing these misguided perceptions. But in a laughable sort of way, what she wrote just demonstrates how out of touch she is with her age peers. (It also proves once again that editors will put most anything in the paper regardless of its accuracy, just to attract eyeballs.)
Out of curiosity, I searched for Ms. Heilman on Linked-In. She’s a graphic designer who graduated from a college in Pennsylvania and has held four jobs in the past seven years. As an employer, I would be reluctant to hire her no matter what her qualifications, just because of her seeming restlessness. I, like most small employers, can’t afford to hire people like her for a period of months only to lose them because my firm doesn’t live up to their expectations. She should remember that this emotional outburst will follow her around. Pretty much every company conducts an on-line search on all applicants. This editorial is sure to come up. She might want stay with her present employer for a while and learn how to work and play well with others.