3 Reasons Millennials Shouldn’t Be Getting Fired

By Lauren | August 10, 2015 | 0 Comment

If you know me at all, you know that I’m a big advocate for standing up for Millennials (aka myself) and trying to burst stereotypes that the older generations seem to think are totally true. I recently read an article that infuriated me. The article was titled the 3 Reasons Millennials Are Getting Fired by Inc. Now I’m a fan of Inc. but every once in awhile they put out these articles that make me wonder if this is supposed to be a joke and cause a reaction from people. I have written a rebuttal to one of their posts before, which was their article they did on 11 Reasons a 23-Year-Old Shouldn’t Run Your Social Media – you can read my response to that post here.

So here is why I think that this latest article they’ve come up with is just completely ridiculous and proves that the older generations are reluctant to change.

1. Article: Employers don’t want to be parents Me: Asking for mentorship & professional development is not parenting

At first from reading the subhead of this paragraph, I completely agreed – no employer should be a parent or feel like they need to parent an employee, but then I read the context underneath the subhead: “Growing up, Millennials were coached their entire lives and they unknowingly assume employers will coach them too.” First of all, not just Millennials had parents that raised them and teachers that cared about their success. Maybe Millennials are the first generation to actually not settle for employers that just don’t care about their growth. If you invest in your talent, you’ll have happier employees who are not just better at what they do, but also are more dedicated and committed to your company. I once read this quote that completely nails exactly what I’m trying to say:

The article says that we as Millennials should proactively seek resources on our own to help us close gaps in skills and knowledge in the workplace. Yes, I do partly agree that if you want to embark on professional development you should seek it out yourself, but if it’s going to benefit YOUR company, why wouldn’t you invest in your employees and help them be better at their job? Isn’t that a win win for both of you? Don’t you want your employees to be even better?

2. Article: The anti-work attitude isn’t appreciated Me: We aren’t all anti-work

Okay, I didn’t entirely disagree with what they laid out in this point. Obviously no matter what your age, employees should show up on time and be available to work, but I wouldn’t say that Millennials lack commitment to work.

Just like any other generation, there are people that are willing to work long hours and stay in the office till 9 pm while all the senior employees go home to their lives, and then there are employees who know that the whole world isn’t going to collapse if they leave on time like all the other employees. Staying late and working unpaid overtime isn’t proving yourself. Yes, if it’s necessary to get things done on time, then obviously it’s going to need to happen, but just judging an entire generation on the fact that they want to have a life outside of work too seems a little silly doesn’t it? If an employee can’t prove their commitment to their job during working hours, then they probably shouldn’t be kept around? Who wants someone who can’t prioritize their time and be on their game between regular working hours?

3. Article: Millennials’ happiness isn’t the employer’s responsibly Me: So you want your employees to be unhappy?

Wait what? Can we just back it up for a moment – your employer shouldn’t care if you’re happy? Why would your employer want you to be miserable? Happiness will directly reflect on the rest of your organization and the work that your employees do. Plus, it doesn’t necessarily take perks to make your employees happy, there are many ways to make your work culture one that is enjoyable and one that makes people want to wake up every morning and go to work. Ever heard the saying that money doesn’t buy happiness? Well it is true! Make your company culture one that people love to be in, and they won’t mind if they have to work late one night because they’ll actually enjoy waking up every day and coming to work.

For once a generation isn’t settling, they aren’t landing jobs and deciding that this is the job I’m going to have for the rest of my life, so I better just suck it up. No, we don’t all expect companies to bow down to us and hand over perk after perk to bribe us into staying with your company. All we want is for workplaces to realize that if they’re still running their business the same way they would 20 years ago – that’s a problem. A company should be susceptible to change. Now I’m not saying Millennials should think they own a place, and believe that if they show their company they’re unhappy then they’ll get paid for it, what I’m saying is that employers should stop blaming Millennials and just rolling their eyes and start actually listening to the world around them.

I’m sure at one point the generation before the baby boomers looked at the baby boomers like they were insane and had completely different demands and priorities then they did. So you want to fire us for wanting to be better and wanting to continue to learn and grow as professionals and for wanting to be happy in our careers? Take a step back and look at how ridiculous that sounds.

0 Comments