Life and work are different now and young people know it

As I scroll through industry news in the morning, I keep coming across the phrase “young people don’t want to work.” Later that day, I had coffee with a friend in his early 20s who had a master’s degree in economics. He showed me a spreadsheet of over 50 jobs of his that had been rejected. A job that fits his qualifications. What a disappointment when he opened LinkedIn looking for another job posting and saw another article that said, “I just don’t want to work.”

If you think about the career trajectory of recent generations, you graduate, get a job, work there for 40 years (changing jobs as needed), buy a car and a house, and get the occasional promotion. He saved his money and retired in his 60s. This was the plan for many middle-class or upper-middle-class Americans, allowing them to own a home, take minimal education loans, and (God willing) enjoy retirement for at least 20 years.

The world has changed. Today, the average twenty-something is encouraged by family, friends, and the media to avoid taking out loans for college. Save your money and go to a state school. ” The same people who tell us this wait until we graduate and then inform us that that high-paying dream job only accepts elite private school graduates. It’s a bit of a Catch-22, isn’t it?

The numbers show that homeownership, rent, and college tuition are all outpacing inflation, making inflation harder to achieve than in any generation in the past. This means that we need to earn far more money than our predecessors to achieve the same quality of life. Then we realize that our experience and education are not enough to earn us that kind of salary. We didn’t go into debt to get that kind of education.

We are told that we may never be able to retire, or that we may have to retire long after our parents retire. I heard that our parents need to save $1 million to retire, but we need to save her $3 million. It’s so daunting.

So what is the trajectory for us? Do you go to home state college and get a job that pays you rent but not enough for a down payment or to upgrade from your mom’s old minivan? Does she work hard and ask for a raise and stash it in her 401(k) in hopes of being one of the lucky ones to retire? When we’re wondering if this is the best option, we’re often reminded that we’re lazy. Will you tell me?

It is true that young people think and talk about work differently. It should be so: work and life are different now. To be lazy would be to follow the same path our grandparents did without looking up and not realizing that we won’t get to the same destination. To be lazy is to hope for the best, work without a budget or plan, and be shocked when you turn 65 and have less money than you started with. The fact that young people are expressing their dissatisfaction is a sign of critical thinking. Whether it’s culture, policy, or workplace change, it’s the first step to change.

So let’s reframe how we talk about the bright young people we entrust to the world. Let’s change “Young people don’t want to work” to “Young people don’t want to work that long and hard,” or even better, “Young people are worried about the future of the world.” Because we are.

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