Seriously, whoever wrote this must be in the Gen Y era because everyone in the baby boomer era has been burned by corporations; and the baby boomers thought their loyalty would get them what the author seems to believe is some new trend.
This article is ridiculous. Someone did not do their research. Many baby boomers today have been destroyed by the rightous companies they worked for and thought they would have a long standing career with.
Multi-tasking? Does that mean checking your Facebook status and texting at the same time? Unless the field is science, math or medicine – I think today’s youth is woefully unprepared for employment. Attention span is too short and there is a huge sense of entitlement.
So, you think today’s youth is woefully unprepared for employmene. Funny, my parents thought the same thing about us baby boomers, and then, of course, their parents thought the same thing about them, and then, before that, etc., etc. as far back as you want to go. Some things never change.
The author has no idea what has gone on in the US in the last 25 to 30 years. She should write articles relating the countries she is familiar with and leave the US alone.
See below:
Stephanie K. Jones, PhD
Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior
Short Profile
Dr. Jones was appointed Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior at Maastricht School of Management in January 2007. She graduated with a PhD from University College London, having gained her Bachelor’s degree from the London School of Economics.
Specializing in management and HRM, Dr. Jones managed consulting and training businesses in the UK , Hong Kong, PRC, India , Australia and Dubai , from 1988 to 2001. She was also actively engaged in writing and researching books and articles.
Moving to academic life in 2001, she was previously based at the Kuwait Maastricht Business School (2005-7), and taught at the University of Wollongong in Dubai (2002-5) and the American University in Dubai (2001-2). She has also taught for the Universities of Exeter, Cranfield and Leicester of the UK .
Dr. Jones is an active consultant and trainer in all aspects of leadership and management. She served on the editorial board of a practitioner journal Human Assets Middle East, and served twice as an assessor and lead assessor for the Dubai Human Development Awards.
Dr. Jones has authored over 25 full-length internationally-published books on business and management, including on the subjects of leadership, cross-cultural issues, psychometric testing, recruitment, career development and expatriation. Her 2005 book, Nelson’s Way: leadership lessons from the great commander, reached the top ten best-selling business books in the UK. Dr. Jones has recently completed substantial sections of the first three volumes in the MSM textbook series, How to Write Your MBA Thesis, Leadership, Change and Responsibility, and Managing Cultural Diversity .
Dr. Jones is principally involved in the teaching of MBA and DBA programs for Maastricht School of Management all over the world, in the Middle East (Kuwait, Egypt, Yemen) in Africa (Rwanda, Ghana) and in South America (Peru, Suriname), as well as China (Shanghai). During 2009 she has also taught in Kazakhstan and Vietnam.
For clarification, Stephanie K. Jones has been a member of the editorial team at Insurance Journal for more than 11 years and lives in the United States.
I will certainly be paying attention to bi-lines in the future before I read and IJ articles. Seriously a mistake to allow people to publish who have no clue how the real world has developed over many years. Some people continue to live in their proverbial bubble of degrees and over-education which does not allow them to balance real from their imaginery world. Sad state this world is in today because of these people.
I’m sorry, but this seemed to be the polar opposite of what I have experienced. Most baby boomers I know have worked with one company for many years while millennials run for the hills if they don’t receive that ONE benefit they are looking for (that ONE benefit depends on the person). The part about learning and developing makes sense, but I don’t feel there is much loyalty with millennials. And boy are they hard to impress. You can have contests to win ipads or Kindle Fires, etc…and they just complain because they already have one. But I do feel they come with less conspiracy theory. Notice how baby boomers always assume the man is out to get them? (which was really the case at one point, but now, not so much)
Courtney…Its not that he is out to get you, its just he doesn’t see YOU. You are a tiny piece of an aggregated number. And many times, he (or they) is just another out-of-touch elitist (see Becca’s post above) buck-passer that never seems to be directly responsible for anything, unless it was a good year and there’s bonus money available.
Oh wait, if forget, there doesn’t have to be a good year or a bonus pool for he (they) to get the compensation package.
Becca
Not sure why you need to try to discredit the author for passing along research by others but in any event, you got the wrong one. The author of this article, IJ staffer Stephanie Jones, is not the Doctor you found at Maastricht School of Management. By all means, pay attention to bylines if you want but be sure you get the right one.
Andrew be sure you read Stephanie’s response above. I do not believe I have the wrong individual as she clearing states she is now living in the US — and her phone number is foreign.
It doesn’t really matter what I think — now does it — as I am a baby boomer who has experienced what many others have; and I suspect you are among the young and vibrant who still believe you will have a long term relationship with an organization of your choice. We all did at one time in our lives. Big brother and all their sisters have been successful in squashing our dreams.
I can’t speak for the other millenials but I have never believed I would have a long-term relationship with a single employer. Growing up watching baby boomers get screwed over by large corporations, of course we don’t carry around naive feelings of loyalty. I am on the older end of the spectrum but I can’t imagine this recession, and its disproportionate impact on millenial unemployment, is doing anything for their feelings of loyalty toward their employer. As it is, I bought my first house right before the housing crash and saw my equity completely wiped out through no fault of my own. In the meantime my employer is cutting benefits and curbing pay increases. So even the more fortunate of us millenials are feeling the pinch.
Becca
You are mistaken. The author works for IJ and is not the person you cite. I know- I work with the Stephanie Jones who is the author.
I, too, am a Baby Boomer but I have had the benefit of working for myself or or small businesses in my career. I do not believe everyone has been burned by big firms although no doubt some have.
Oh, if only I were a Millennial!
Companies continue to seek young talent with high GPA’s and sterling leadership qualities. They the put them through a mind numbing “training program”.
From there a authority grant is laid on them along with a book of business. At this point, they become just another drone subject to endless second guessing and underwriting audits. They work hard and fail 75% of the time. All companies want Chiefs and then beat them in to Indians. Why – because we might have a loss!
Many comments and articles on this subject seem to focus on assumptions and negative perceptions about Gen Y’s lack of “long term commitment” and loyalty.
–Gen Y entered the work force at the very moment all remaning companies offering defined benefit pensions were phasing them out in favor of 401(k) defined contribution plans. And we’re not about to be fooled by the false promises of the past, either!
–Employment for us has always been at will (in most states anyway).
–We’ve watched countless “lifers” get axed during a RiF and walked out of the building by security.
–We’ve seen people uproot and move their whole families to some pretty bleak rural places because a higher-up saw that office space would be cheaper there. And we’ve seen those very people get rewarded with a layoff during ‘cutbacks’ less than a year later.
–Age discrimination is illegal, yet I imagine the vast majority of insurance people reading this have seen layoffs where the ones getting walked out just so happen to be the older (and more expensive) ones.
–If you’re over 50 years old and you get RiF’ed, it’s crystal clear to us that the gig is up and you’re on your own. We don’t see those people finding comparable jobs elsewhere.
–Outside hires get much better salary terms than long term employees.
–The only way to get a decent raise (not always true but for MANY companies it is all too true) is to leave and go somewhere else.
–Employees that bust their rear-ends and are loyal are rewarded with flat wages, ‘inflation-only’ adjustments, or at best a modest merit increase
–Open spots at higher levels are too often filled with outside hires
In short Gen Y has no loyalty because we aren’t blind. We’ve seen employers make far too many suckers out of loyal, hardworking and good people. We know that any grand promises of today probably won’t be there for us in 2055. And we see time and time again that the only way to get a meaningful salary bump is to seek greener pastures (or, as some find, jump from the frying pan into the fire!).
The “Boomer” generation should pretend to be so surprised. They’ve spent so much of their energy destroying the social contracts they so readily benefitted from. The Boomers will be cashing Social Security checks and paying for all their doctors with Medicare while they work to finish gutting those programs for everyone else.
This is what the world looks like when you trade the social contract for social Darwinism. It’s “every man for himself” and it isn’t pretty.
I was impressed with your analysis until you got to the end. Correction: it is NOT the boomers who will bankrupt Gen Y and Gen X. It is the “Greatest Generation’ – the boomers’ parents who are doing that. Most boomers I know are not even 60 yet. It is the REAL senior citizens, the WWII AARP geezers that have a sense of entitlement to EVERY social program. They are the ones who retired with real pensions, life long paid health care and full benefits social security. It’s an ecomonic fact: they did not pay for most of the benefits they are receiving. I am. You are.
Like Brokie I thought Somethoughts had a great response.
My 2 cents:
Right now we are seeing the older Boomers delay retirement longer than they would like to because their retirement savings have taken such a hit in the past few years. By continuing in the workforce and not vacating their positions, the nation’s “employment” has been showing further stall because the young people need job creation to have an employment opportunity instead of the domino effect of a retiree leaving a position open which gets filled by those in line downstream.
Some thoughts……too bad the author of the article didn’t talk to you (or me) before the publication was made. Seems there are some conflicting realities that IJ needs to review before they allow such articles to be released. Since most of the authors (speculation on my part) are free lance, I would want to make sure they had the knowledge they were proclaiming in their article before being released.
I like your thought process and your comments — maybe you could become an author for IJ. They could sure use someone like you!
I would not recommend a job in the insurance industry, especially underwriting. Most carriers have outdated IT, are slashing benefits, and are very hierarchical. Underwriting is not much more more than a paper pushing sales jobs. Pay can be somewhat decent, but it’s a churn and burn environment. You have all of the responsibility to grow by x% every year, but of course none of the authority to make it happen. It’s the complete opposite of a progressive work environment. Also, expect heavy travel, so forget about work/life balance. Teamwork is minimal as every underwriter is out for him/herself trying to meet numbers. Can’t work from home because management needs to track your every move. Also, expect dwindling job prospects as underwriting becomes more and more automated. This isn’t bad, but expect fewer opportunities in the future. Good luck.
Based on those two sample questions, Gen Y values aren’t all that different from those of baby boomers or any other generation.
Seriously, whoever wrote this must be in the Gen Y era because everyone in the baby boomer era has been burned by corporations; and the baby boomers thought their loyalty would get them what the author seems to believe is some new trend.
This article is ridiculous. Someone did not do their research. Many baby boomers today have been destroyed by the rightous companies they worked for and thought they would have a long standing career with.
Next time, do your homework!
Multi-tasking? Does that mean checking your Facebook status and texting at the same time? Unless the field is science, math or medicine – I think today’s youth is woefully unprepared for employment. Attention span is too short and there is a huge sense of entitlement.
So, you think today’s youth is woefully unprepared for employmene. Funny, my parents thought the same thing about us baby boomers, and then, of course, their parents thought the same thing about them, and then, before that, etc., etc. as far back as you want to go. Some things never change.
^ Bingo.
The author has no idea what has gone on in the US in the last 25 to 30 years. She should write articles relating the countries she is familiar with and leave the US alone.
See below:
Stephanie K. Jones, PhD
Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior
E-mail: Jones@msm.nl
Phone: +31 43 38 70 888
Short Profile
Dr. Jones was appointed Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior at Maastricht School of Management in January 2007. She graduated with a PhD from University College London, having gained her Bachelor’s degree from the London School of Economics.
Specializing in management and HRM, Dr. Jones managed consulting and training businesses in the UK , Hong Kong, PRC, India , Australia and Dubai , from 1988 to 2001. She was also actively engaged in writing and researching books and articles.
Moving to academic life in 2001, she was previously based at the Kuwait Maastricht Business School (2005-7), and taught at the University of Wollongong in Dubai (2002-5) and the American University in Dubai (2001-2). She has also taught for the Universities of Exeter, Cranfield and Leicester of the UK .
Dr. Jones is an active consultant and trainer in all aspects of leadership and management. She served on the editorial board of a practitioner journal Human Assets Middle East, and served twice as an assessor and lead assessor for the Dubai Human Development Awards.
Dr. Jones has authored over 25 full-length internationally-published books on business and management, including on the subjects of leadership, cross-cultural issues, psychometric testing, recruitment, career development and expatriation. Her 2005 book, Nelson’s Way: leadership lessons from the great commander, reached the top ten best-selling business books in the UK. Dr. Jones has recently completed substantial sections of the first three volumes in the MSM textbook series, How to Write Your MBA Thesis, Leadership, Change and Responsibility, and Managing Cultural Diversity .
Dr. Jones is principally involved in the teaching of MBA and DBA programs for Maastricht School of Management all over the world, in the Middle East (Kuwait, Egypt, Yemen) in Africa (Rwanda, Ghana) and in South America (Peru, Suriname), as well as China (Shanghai). During 2009 she has also taught in Kazakhstan and Vietnam.
For clarification, Stephanie K. Jones has been a member of the editorial team at Insurance Journal for more than 11 years and lives in the United States.
In the Workplace, What Do Millenials Want?
….something for nothing.
To hell in a handbasket I say!
It’s not multi-tasking, it’s sequential tasking. And the Gen Y’rs certainly don’t do it as well as us Baby Boomers did, huh!
I will certainly be paying attention to bi-lines in the future before I read and IJ articles. Seriously a mistake to allow people to publish who have no clue how the real world has developed over many years. Some people continue to live in their proverbial bubble of degrees and over-education which does not allow them to balance real from their imaginery world. Sad state this world is in today because of these people.
I’m sorry, but this seemed to be the polar opposite of what I have experienced. Most baby boomers I know have worked with one company for many years while millennials run for the hills if they don’t receive that ONE benefit they are looking for (that ONE benefit depends on the person). The part about learning and developing makes sense, but I don’t feel there is much loyalty with millennials. And boy are they hard to impress. You can have contests to win ipads or Kindle Fires, etc…and they just complain because they already have one. But I do feel they come with less conspiracy theory. Notice how baby boomers always assume the man is out to get them? (which was really the case at one point, but now, not so much)
Courtney…Its not that he is out to get you, its just he doesn’t see YOU. You are a tiny piece of an aggregated number. And many times, he (or they) is just another out-of-touch elitist (see Becca’s post above) buck-passer that never seems to be directly responsible for anything, unless it was a good year and there’s bonus money available.
Oh wait, if forget, there doesn’t have to be a good year or a bonus pool for he (they) to get the compensation package.
Good point, Ins Guy. :)
Becca
Not sure why you need to try to discredit the author for passing along research by others but in any event, you got the wrong one. The author of this article, IJ staffer Stephanie Jones, is not the Doctor you found at Maastricht School of Management. By all means, pay attention to bylines if you want but be sure you get the right one.
Andrew be sure you read Stephanie’s response above. I do not believe I have the wrong individual as she clearing states she is now living in the US — and her phone number is foreign.
It doesn’t really matter what I think — now does it — as I am a baby boomer who has experienced what many others have; and I suspect you are among the young and vibrant who still believe you will have a long term relationship with an organization of your choice. We all did at one time in our lives. Big brother and all their sisters have been successful in squashing our dreams.
I do hope you are more fortunate.
Best of luck to you!
I can’t speak for the other millenials but I have never believed I would have a long-term relationship with a single employer. Growing up watching baby boomers get screwed over by large corporations, of course we don’t carry around naive feelings of loyalty. I am on the older end of the spectrum but I can’t imagine this recession, and its disproportionate impact on millenial unemployment, is doing anything for their feelings of loyalty toward their employer. As it is, I bought my first house right before the housing crash and saw my equity completely wiped out through no fault of my own. In the meantime my employer is cutting benefits and curbing pay increases. So even the more fortunate of us millenials are feeling the pinch.
Becca
You are mistaken. The author works for IJ and is not the person you cite. I know- I work with the Stephanie Jones who is the author.
I, too, am a Baby Boomer but I have had the benefit of working for myself or or small businesses in my career. I do not believe everyone has been burned by big firms although no doubt some have.
Oh, if only I were a Millennial!
Companies continue to seek young talent with high GPA’s and sterling leadership qualities. They the put them through a mind numbing “training program”.
From there a authority grant is laid on them along with a book of business. At this point, they become just another drone subject to endless second guessing and underwriting audits. They work hard and fail 75% of the time. All companies want Chiefs and then beat them in to Indians. Why – because we might have a loss!
Many comments and articles on this subject seem to focus on assumptions and negative perceptions about Gen Y’s lack of “long term commitment” and loyalty.
–Gen Y entered the work force at the very moment all remaning companies offering defined benefit pensions were phasing them out in favor of 401(k) defined contribution plans. And we’re not about to be fooled by the false promises of the past, either!
–Employment for us has always been at will (in most states anyway).
–We’ve watched countless “lifers” get axed during a RiF and walked out of the building by security.
–We’ve seen people uproot and move their whole families to some pretty bleak rural places because a higher-up saw that office space would be cheaper there. And we’ve seen those very people get rewarded with a layoff during ‘cutbacks’ less than a year later.
–Age discrimination is illegal, yet I imagine the vast majority of insurance people reading this have seen layoffs where the ones getting walked out just so happen to be the older (and more expensive) ones.
–If you’re over 50 years old and you get RiF’ed, it’s crystal clear to us that the gig is up and you’re on your own. We don’t see those people finding comparable jobs elsewhere.
–Outside hires get much better salary terms than long term employees.
–The only way to get a decent raise (not always true but for MANY companies it is all too true) is to leave and go somewhere else.
–Employees that bust their rear-ends and are loyal are rewarded with flat wages, ‘inflation-only’ adjustments, or at best a modest merit increase
–Open spots at higher levels are too often filled with outside hires
In short Gen Y has no loyalty because we aren’t blind. We’ve seen employers make far too many suckers out of loyal, hardworking and good people. We know that any grand promises of today probably won’t be there for us in 2055. And we see time and time again that the only way to get a meaningful salary bump is to seek greener pastures (or, as some find, jump from the frying pan into the fire!).
The “Boomer” generation should pretend to be so surprised. They’ve spent so much of their energy destroying the social contracts they so readily benefitted from. The Boomers will be cashing Social Security checks and paying for all their doctors with Medicare while they work to finish gutting those programs for everyone else.
This is what the world looks like when you trade the social contract for social Darwinism. It’s “every man for himself” and it isn’t pretty.
I was impressed with your analysis until you got to the end. Correction: it is NOT the boomers who will bankrupt Gen Y and Gen X. It is the “Greatest Generation’ – the boomers’ parents who are doing that. Most boomers I know are not even 60 yet. It is the REAL senior citizens, the WWII AARP geezers that have a sense of entitlement to EVERY social program. They are the ones who retired with real pensions, life long paid health care and full benefits social security. It’s an ecomonic fact: they did not pay for most of the benefits they are receiving. I am. You are.
Like Brokie I thought Somethoughts had a great response.
My 2 cents:
Right now we are seeing the older Boomers delay retirement longer than they would like to because their retirement savings have taken such a hit in the past few years. By continuing in the workforce and not vacating their positions, the nation’s “employment” has been showing further stall because the young people need job creation to have an employment opportunity instead of the domino effect of a retiree leaving a position open which gets filled by those in line downstream.
Some thoughts……too bad the author of the article didn’t talk to you (or me) before the publication was made. Seems there are some conflicting realities that IJ needs to review before they allow such articles to be released. Since most of the authors (speculation on my part) are free lance, I would want to make sure they had the knowledge they were proclaiming in their article before being released.
I like your thought process and your comments — maybe you could become an author for IJ. They could sure use someone like you!
I would not recommend a job in the insurance industry, especially underwriting. Most carriers have outdated IT, are slashing benefits, and are very hierarchical. Underwriting is not much more more than a paper pushing sales jobs. Pay can be somewhat decent, but it’s a churn and burn environment. You have all of the responsibility to grow by x% every year, but of course none of the authority to make it happen. It’s the complete opposite of a progressive work environment. Also, expect heavy travel, so forget about work/life balance. Teamwork is minimal as every underwriter is out for him/herself trying to meet numbers. Can’t work from home because management needs to track your every move. Also, expect dwindling job prospects as underwriting becomes more and more automated. This isn’t bad, but expect fewer opportunities in the future. Good luck.
Bulls eye – you captured it exactly.