I'm part of the Gen Y generation, and I think those descriptions are fairly accurate. I've noticed that as my friends search for jobs they expect high salaries and benefits, where I'm more practical and I understand that even if we do have a college degree we begin at the bottom and must work our way up like everyone else. I get annoyed at my friends who whine and complain, and continue to remain unemployed

I think part of the problem is how expensive college is. If you're paying 50 grand a year for an education (200,000 for 4 years) you might expect a decent salary coming out of school.

I am one of those who expects certain things out of my work beyond a salary--namely, benefits and a retirement plan. But for me it's not about "entitlement." For me it's about the fact that health insurance is something I need, but is too expensive for me to afford except through work, and a retirement plan is something I should have, since I'm certainly not going to count on Social Security to be there when I'm old enough to collect it.

Should there eventually be a standardized health care for all American workers and a better retirement/Social Security safety net, far fewer Gen-Y workers would be so insistent on getting those things at their jobs.

hell yeah I expect perks & pay...good pay. I've worked my way up every job and I know I deserve it. And I've had all the above: an expense account, phones and palm pilots, etc...that's just the way it works out. You're hired to do your job and if you do it well and ACTUALLY work your ass off, you get not only what you expect, but highly deserve.

If it wasn't for people like this with forward thinking saying hey the competition is offering this and that is what I expect, then we would never move forward. When coming out of school I and several classmates turned down the same position at a company and finally when HR got to me she said, May I ask why you don't want this position, I told her straight up that the salary was too low and the competition was offering more. Soon after that they raised their salaries significantly and now have a full staff.

I think too may of us are still working the way our parents did i.e. working for a company for 20 years being loyal and not expecting more. After watching so many people work like dogs for 20+ years then get dropped from companies I've learned not to just sit back, be loyal, and not be compensated well for your work! If you know you deserve these "perks" and they are necessary for your job why the hell not! Whats one persons perk today is soon standard tomorrow!

I think that Gen Y expects certain things- flexible work arrangements, more vacation time, higher pay- but "not for nothing." I mean, with these flexible work arrangements, we are still working more. We are always connected, ansering emails, etc. Same goes for vacation time. I don't remember the last time I did NOTHING work-related on my vacation, from conference calls to email, etc. And, I obviously expect to be compensated appropriately for this.

Yes, we probably feel more entitled, but we can blame the older people! It's very obvious that parents who both worked tried to give the children stuff because they couldn't give them their time. I come from a community of have-nots and now am immersed in a community of haves. I'm blown away by the difference, but also, am blown away by many of the haves' generosity.

I don't know, I'm a part of "Generation X", not Y!

Good luck! We "Xs" have been trying to get these kinds of changes in the workplace for a while. All we managed to do is be issued Blackberries and home network access so that we can always be thinking about work.

Somewhere along the way, "flexible" work went from putting in your 40 hours over non-typical days/times/locations to putting in unpaid overtime...but from home.

As part of Gen Y let me just say that the cost of living has gone up, and the salaries have not. But I know one of the guys from the article, and he def felt entitled in college

This is off topic here, but why is there a picture of Asians, with three of the people in there, not even in the Gen Y category?

Quite frankly, my mother has coughed up approximately:

$80,000 in private school tuition
$40,000 in university fees
$5,000 in post-graduate fees (certificate, not masters)

and I've done

MONTHS of volunteer work and unpaid internships (definitely almost a year)

Not to be a brat but damn right I expect a return on my investment. With the entry-level salaries I've heard of I may has well have dropped out of public school in grade ten and started working at McDonalds. I'd probably make more doing that than I do now.

I don't think it's a matter of entitlement, but gen Y has to work a hell of a lot harder than previous generations AND spend a hell of a lot more money on an education. Not to mention we've done years of extra-curriculars and gotten over 80%+ just to get accepted to undergrad. I wouldn't have gone through all that/spent all that money for nothing.

I look at this as a good thing. We know what we want, and we're not going to settle. If we know we could get something better, why not shoot for it?

What is with the Asians!?

I don't want a blackberry until it is forced on me. I like to avoid work when I'm home. I work for a company that stresses having fun, engineering company, so we have a every flexible work schedule.

I don't want a blackberry because I know work would always get me on it. So if that's the case then damn right they should pay for it. And I agree with the above statements about the cost of living going up. I'm working at a job I love in my chosen field but the pay is really low for the area I live in. I'm sticking it out and NOT moving on because I know it is great experience I can use later for a company I CAN demand more from.

Ha, I'm under 29 working for chickensh*t, no benefits, nada. But I consider it a fair tradeoff considering a lot of people I know (also under 29) are connected to work 24/7 and work oodles of overtime. Only one person I know get actual good pay and benefits for handing life over to work like that.

If there's a wave of people demanding benefits and higher pay, I say good for them! Consider the source of this "Gen Y is full of whiners" mantra. Of course employers (a.k.a. "The Man") wants us to think it's whining to demand a living wage and virtuous to enslave ourselves to "pay our dues". It'd be ideal for them if all employees work super-hard for next to nothing or seriously nothing (*cough* internship *cough*), and have absolutely no rights so can be worked to death and dismissed at will. FTS!

There's actually an entire book about this called "Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled -And More Miserable Than Ever". Check it out. It's a fascinating read.

I don't expect a blackberry or a cell phone but decent benefits is something that everyone should have regardless of what their job is. Is that so wrong to want?

We're the children of the self-esteem and "feel good about yourself" revolution. I remember being in elementary school and doing "feel-good" exercises in P.E. class repeating things that were positive and affirming and letting us all know we were special and different and shouldn't put down other people. So yeah, we feel entitled, we've been taught all our lives that we were special!

I agree with Sweet as Sugar. Why work hard in school, graduate school, internships, doing entry level work to work your way up while your in school just to start out at less than 30k. Some companies are robbing you. I work hard and I come to work and I give more than my share of course I want to be compensated.

completely accurate. I am a gen Xer and i have a problem even working with the Y-ners.

Like hotstuff said, I've watched many loyal and hardworking people work for a company for 20+ years, only to be dumped once they started making too much money. Businesses are out not to make friends, but to make money. Point blank. Even in my short time as a full-fledged member of the working masses, it's been drilled into me over and over how it's all about the bottom line and nothing else. Why should any of us, INCLUDING older generations, not demand more? Just because we're asking for what we're worth, we're "bratty" now?

FYI, if I hear one more manager/human resources exec ignorantly lump us all into the same category as Paris Hilton, I might just lose it.

I'm somewhere in the middle of Gen Y and X..They keep changing the range...I have to day I know many young people, my age (26 and younger) who are very hard working and dedicated. My best employee ever was a 22 year old...who had all the credentials but what made me really want to hire him was his earnestness and willingness to listen and work. I also know and have had to interview many more people in this age range and a little older who walk in with a sense of entitlement. There's a fine line between eager/precocious and entitled/brat.

It is the biggest turn off when someone of any age range walks into an interview and acts like he/she is a godsend. The worst employee I've ever had was a 23 year old douche who had had one of those roman numeral names and the attitude to got with it. Not surprisingly the guy that hired him was of the same persuasion.

With all that said, I dread the day my office forces me to get a crack-berry but I do think fair compensation, benefits, and flextime are all very good motivating factors. Technology has changed the work world, I don't know anyone who works 9-5 anymore. I'm in my office from 8:30-8:00 and often work from home, so I don't think flex time is too much to ask if an employee can deliver results. I think a work environment driven by results as opposed to clock/face time is the future if not already here.

I do think this is true, but at the same time employers have MORE expectations for us.
Such as a secondary education, experiance, good marks.
My parents weren't expected to go to college or university like I am.
People think it's weird (or bad) enough that I am 20 and haven't started post secondary school!

I also think that regardless of generation, people deserve the be compensated for the hard work that they do and knowing what you are worth is not a bad thing. But I think an over inflated sense of self based on nothing but the fact that "mom and dad think your special" is crap and that in the long run the people who are willing to put in the work, time, and have a healthy sense of what's fair will do better. I hope...

One more thing: Education doesn't equal good working skills. If I have to interview/work with one more pompous graduate student with no work experience I may just flip out. One girl came into my office 5 months ago, with an MA in international relations, but very limited work experience and expected us to pay her 90K a year for an associates job. Seriously? NOT in DC! Just because you can read and write doesn't mean you can work.

SweetasSugar:

You itemized the huge amount of money that your mother spent on your education, and then demand a return on *your* investment? Getting good grades and doing extracurriculars does not automatically guarantee you a good entry-level salary. One is supposed to get good grades in school.

Golf Claps onabanana and ladygypsy. I am so over the entitlement that kids right out of college have. News flash you earn the big salaries and perks like a blackberry and a cell phone through hardwork. It is a given that people deserve a decent wage and healthcare but to think right out of college with little to no work experience that you can demand an executive salary what a laugh! I have worked hard and people know me in my industry because of that. I have not been at the same company for 20 years and whose to say that is such a bad thing. Mark Parker the CEO & President of Nike has been there since 1976.

This isn't directed to anybody, but I just worry about the consequences of reports/studies like this.

When I first entered the workforce, it was right after September 11th and I struggled. I eventually had to settle for a job that I didn't go to school for and for pay that had me living in Section 8 housing. I never demanded anything... so I got just that, nothing. Even though I truthfully hate my job and even though the work atmosphere is far from ideal, I've been at this job ever since and even promoted a few times since.

Regardless of the few bad apples you've all may have met, I hope that people will not attribute that to being characteristic of every person within this generation. Like many of others in my age group, I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth and I've worked hard at everything I did for as long as I've been alive. It is not fair to me to be immediately written off for a reputation I didn't earn.

Free your right there are great potential employees out there and I do know and have hired some of them. I do not think it is ever anyone's intention on sugar to lump everyone together.

i think some of that's true but at the same time i think there are other reasons for those things being true than us being brats. first of all, we're among the first generations of people to graduate from college with serious debt. i owe 30 grand in student loans and compared to a lot of my friends, i got off easy. this wasn't really the case when our parents were going to college. i think a lot of our wanting better starting salaries and better benefits than previous generations is due to that. regarding flexibility, with the way technology has progressed i think it's natural we're requesting more flexibility than previous generations. you can email and take phone calls pretty much everywhere nowadays, so i don't see what's wrong with people in appropriate fields asking to work from home or such. so while we may be making more requests, there are reasons for it.

I graduated with multiple degrees, had complete 4 internships (totaling about 2.5 years of work experience) and volunteered for various charities, I had written a thesis, I was feeling pretty awesome! I was ready to work hard and recognized! I was idiot! Then came the months of job hunting, then the coffee shop job...then entry level job that barely paid rent and bills...I did not feel awesome. Such was the first 1.5 year after the graduation high...I like my friends spent years in school being told that we were special, and going off to university and leaving the "townies" behind just reinforced that feeling.

Reality: I was not special. There are thousands of kids that graduate every year, with fantastics degrees on pretty paper, armed with internships and recommendations. There are even more people out there (degrees or not) who are willing and able to work very hard for very little money. They are the competition. luckily I learned this pretty darn fast and the only way to get a head and make people remember you as a hard working young person is to be a hard working likable young person. NO-one cares if you can write a thesis and no-one cares how much mom and dad spent on you. There are thousands more out there who can do the job / my job better, faster, and cheaper. I keep this in mind every day.

I have a friend that works at a staffing firm, and she says this is a huge issue for them. They have recent college graduates with no office experience that want to start at an Executive Assistant position making $80K, and it doesn't happen like that. There is a reason why they call it "entry level"....when you enter the work force, you might be working a reception desk or as a file clerk. Use that to get in with a great company, show off in person how amazing you are, and maybe you will be promoted in time to the job of your dreams.

I came back to read what others wrote and I have a question: When you all were in school did you work? I actually had a full time job while I attended school and I worked at junior college and I worked in an office pt on the weekends. It was no treat but it was experience and taught me work ethic. It was not easy but I made it through college and grad school, I even picked up a internship and volunteer work during grad school when I negotiated with my job --telling them it was a class but really an internship I did twice a week. I was just wondering what everyone situation was when they were in school.

Bella you bring up a great point I am considered Gen X but I have had a job since I was old enough to work and worked the entire time I was in college. Looking back I would say it was the best thing I ever did.

If they think that we're demanding and feel entitled wait until the next generation to come up. They're worse!

Cuba, I am on the cusp-28. I have been working since I was 15 1/2. It wasn't always pretty jobs but it was steady work and flexible when I was in HS and college. I think working and going to school and gaining experience is different from saying I deserve this and that. I have had people come into an office and don't even know how to work a copier. I am sure none of you ladies have that problem.

Hey LadyGypsy,

My investment, mom's investment, whatever. For pickiness sake let me edit to add my mother's investment.

I totally agree with you, good grades don't guarantee you a wicked entry-level salary. BUT I think that it's a chain of events - good grades lead you to good opportunities like volunteering and interning where your eligibility may way heavily on your GPA. Those activities should buff up your resume and give you experience before you settle into your actual career.

That experience plus reviews from references should surely result in fair compensation in an entry-level position - if you're not totally green in your field that should be recognized and paid for accordingly. Am I wrong?

*way = weigh. Long day at work!

This generation Y topic fascinates the heck out of me! I think it's so interesting to hear all the different views.

As someon both in this generation and hiring from this generation I find Gen Y people to be very demanding and impatient. I have had so many employees work for me for a month or two and then demand (not ask) for a raise, a promotion, a credit card, an office, and on and on. All of them tell me that they feel like they deserve it. What they don't seem to understand is while they may have worked hard in school and at their internship, they've only worked for me for a month! What have they done to prove to me they are worth that type of investment?
I work for a company that gives excellent raises, pays entirely for the employees health coverage and is very understanding if there are schedule issues or changes that need to be made. Yet even with this I have some emplployees (mostly of Gen Y) that feel they are not getting what they feel entitled.

In defense of this generation, we were told that if we went to school and got a degree we all could have the nice car, corner office and big salary and that's not the case either. In how people are hiring right now it's coming down to experience then education.

Sweet as Sugar, I totally agree with you. If you are not entry-level, you should not be paid an entry-level salary. Same goes for those with degrees from very intense programs, and those who have high GPA's. The top companies recruiting out of college often have GPA requirements, and they pay for those candidates.

Bella, I also worked all throughout my college career (and most of HS for that matter). My last two years I worked full-time. This is by far the most important experience of my life, and led me to the job that I have now. They were impressed with my work ethic.

I also wanted to add that we were talking about Gen Y in my MBA class today. My prof. said that many of the top companies recruiting undergrads today are sending offer letters to both the student and the parents--SERIOUSLY! To me, this is something that should not be acceptable.

Tiff58, I totally agree with you, working at this time was the best experience in my life and gave me a great foundation.

Yeah, I've worked nonstop for a paycheck (except for a few months in my senior year in high school) since I was 16. With an abundance of internships and volunteer work thrown in there as well.

Can I ask what industry are you all hiring for? If you do end up hiring said obnoxious and demanding Gen Y/Millenials, why do you do it? I'm just trying to understand.

I'm under 29, so I guess I'm technically part of Gen Y. While I don't think it applies to everyone, a LOT of Gen Y-ers do feel entitled. I'm a graduate assistant (like a teaching assistant, but a graduate student) and the undergrads at my school are RIDICULOUS. The things they feel entitled to! I've had students not show up for an exam without any sort of valid excuse, just assuming that they'll be allowed to do a makeup. And THEN not show up for a makeup, because they decided they wanted to go out to dinner with friends. Then they have the nerve to get upset with me when I say "tough, you can't write another makeup". A professor of mine describes it as the 'Instant gratification' generation. People are so used to getting what they want, when they want (text messages, email, etc.) that they don't want to wait for anything. I'm not sure if it's the same in the US, but in Canada, they don't fail people in school anymore. They will pass ANYONE because they feel it would be more detrimental to their psychological well-being to fail them. I think that's absolute crap. If you don't fail them, they don't realize that they're doing anything wrong, and they'll keep doing it wrong!
Anyways, sorry about the rant...but YES, a lot of us Gen Y-ers do feel FAR too entitled. You have to work for things people!

I think there's a BIG difference between gen. y-ers who feel entitled because they've put in a significant investment on their education, and gen. y-ers who feel the same sense of entitlement because they see other people getting these perks, even though they haven't done jack shit. If you put in the time and the money I don't think it's wrong to expect certain things from your job (especially a retirement account and salary level), but to want it from nothing is ridiculous. I know people who didn't go to college, or went to community college, and still think they should have high salaries and all the perks. Believe me, if I hadn't gone into $140,000 of personal debt (my money, not mommy and daddy's) and busted my ass to get into a good school and do well once I got there, I wouldn't feel comfortable asking for ANYTHING beyond a paycheck at the end of the week. You should get what you put in, and if you don't want to put the time and money into school up front you should have to work your way up, just like the older generations who didn't necessarily need a degree.

That said, I work in a very transparent industry where starting salaries and benefits are public and competitive, so most places have pretty similar deals to offer. Which was nice, because I didn't pick the job that gave me the most perks, I picked the one I loved the most.

Here, here ashcwebb. If they are going to ask for more from us, of COURSE we will ask for more from them. And a higher salary than the last generation... duh. Of COURSE. Prices are higher. We aren't psycho brats. We just want to be compensated for our efforts.

Jrosenberg02, I feel you on what you said about those who actually put in the work vs those who haven't done the work. I have worked with individuals and know ones that want a job paying a certain amount but have no experience, qualifications, or education but they feel they deserve the job It's weird. My hats goes off to you and other ladies that went into debt to put themselves through college and did it alone. I know what you mean with the ridiculous debt - I wonder will there ever be a law that will dismiss this ---LOL, I guess I can dream.

gbrsgirl we were all told that LOL.