Millennials In Our Midst

Those of us who’ve seen Generation Y progress from the digital playground to places alongside us in the workplace sometimes make too much of our differences. We tie ourselves in knots trying to figure out what makes members of this generation tick. What unleashes their endorphins. What we must do to “meet them where they are.”

The collective wringing of hands is understandable. The tail end of Gen Y, whose high achievers are now in grad school, is the first swath of the world population never to have known life without the Internet. The generation’s frontrunners, now in their mid to late 30s, were the high-school graduating class when the third millennium got underway. (Hence the moniker.) 

But is there anything to the typecasting that has attached to millennials across their age span?

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Reality doesn’t always overturn perception. In any case, what often gets lost in the fuss is the yin and the yang of everything they bring to the party. 

The admixture of positive and negative traits popularly associated with Gen Y is nowhere more concisely captured than in a recruitment campaign the British Army rolled out in January. The appeal features bold, all-caps posters imploring “Selfie Addicts” to contribute their confidence, “Snowflakes” their compassion and “Me Me Me Millennials” their self-belief. 

Nice job juxtaposing ribbing with recognition, wouldn’t you say? It’ll be interesting to see if the campaign ends up being as effective as it is clever.