What is Digg?299 Comments
- buckrogers1965, on 05/19/2008, -3/+1475 times the productivity as their parents for 1/2 the pay and absolutely no job security. But the top brass gets paid 100 times as much as they did back in their parents day.
Gee, I wonder why people are so dissatisfied? - oceanrain, on 05/19/2008, -1/+111The article forgot the biggest reason we are unhappy...The PAY SUCKS!
- edebolt, on 05/19/2008, -5/+100I was unhappy at work until I started whizzing in my bosses coffee. Now I can't stop smiling :-)
- orangefly, on 05/19/2008, -3/+98you hate your job....???....there's a group for that.....it's called EVERYBODY....we meet at the bar....
- FyreGoddess, on 05/19/2008, -3/+84One thing that rarely gets mentioned is that we were raised to believe in the idea that you can start at a good company and be employed with them until you retire. The mention of the layoffs that we witnessed fails to consider that this shattered the idea of a lifelong position even in companies that are still held in that intern-to-retirement light.
I think that most of us are well aware that any position that we take with any company is less likely to see us through to the end and that leads, in many situations, to less personal investment in the companies where we work.
The bottom line here is that we're the transitional generation. The ones who started out optimistic and thinking that we would start our path the way our parents and grandparents did, and be able to follow that to its logical end. That is not as true as we were taught to believe and we're trying to come up with ways to reconcile ourselves to the uncertainty in the job market of the 21st century. - inactive, on 05/19/2008, -1/+63Gen Y is going to be much more unhappy. All the kids who grew up hearing how special they were are about to find out that was all *****.
- cubicledrone, on 05/19/2008, -2/+60Well, let's see,
1. Wages are stagnant
2. Job security is non-existent
3. Benefits are scarce
4. Pay is low
5. Hours are unreasonable
6. Co-workers are sour and incompetent
7. Promotions don't exist
8. All-day meetings
9. Creativity and innovation are rewarded with layoffs
10. Middle managers are douchebags
That about cover it? Thanks. - trer, on 05/19/2008, -1/+56That's ok. We'll farm some work out to Singapore and hire some entry-level college graduates. Standard operating procedure, really.
- jaobedoza, on 05/19/2008, -7/+56all generations like to fire the boss and be self employed
- Genetico, on 05/19/2008, -3/+48Thats why I sell weed.
- domfosnz, on 05/19/2008, -8/+50I'm a Gen Xer and all that rings true. That's why I'm self employed.
- Sechy, on 05/19/2008, -2/+41Maybe corporations are the problem, look at what they are doing to this country. I wish I can work for people who actually cared about the people that work for them.
- Genady, on 05/19/2008, -0/+37(You missed the part where we pay for the Boomer's Social Security...)
- inactive, on 05/19/2008, -2/+37Corporate America did a great job from the mid 70's to the late 90's of having little or no loyalty to their employees, while convincing the employee loyalty to the company is very important.
I have said this before, but the last company I felt any loyalty towards was Adobe, and that was many years ago. I have always felt a responsibility to make sure people that worked for me understood their loyalty was with their family, and what was best for them. Work hard, do your best, but understand you are an "at will" employee.
Companies LOVE the whole "make sure you give at least two weeks notice", while laying people off with as little notice as possible (in order to get as much productivity as possible before tossing them aside). - cnot3, on 05/19/2008, -9/+41They are unhappy because their bosses take their staplers.
- devophl, on 05/19/2008, -1/+33When I look at my baby boomer friends its quite clear that they see the world through green glasses. Happiness is a big paycheck and it doesn't matter how you get that. The post-WWII America is one of work on the assembly line until your 35, middle management until your 50 and then greatness after that. They are happy to take high paying management position and use all that spare time they now have taking all that extra money and playing the stock market to make even more money in some strange quest to find true happiness.
I'm at the cutoff between baby boomer and Gen X and I can say growing up with the moon landings and the computer generation that I have a huge desire to create... not manage. I can't see myself just blindly moving into middle management and becoming a paper pusher the rest of my life. Baby boomers think I'm screwed up to not want the $200K paycheck even if its a mostly meaningless job.
I guess for me and my other Gen X friends, its a matter of wanting to do something with your life other than making a lot of money. I guess for me, money isn't everything. - cubicledrone, on 05/19/2008, -1/+32a) You don't get the promotions because there are no promotions.
b) Wages have been stagnant for 35 years
c) Nobody gives a ***** how well you do your job. It's about costs.
d) Nobody gives a ***** if you're happy. It's about costs.
Did I mention nobody gives a *****? - TrevorBelmont, on 05/19/2008, -0/+31One thing I think we can all agree on is that "Generation X" has the coolest generation name sense we started naming generations.
- ktk1336, on 05/19/2008, -1/+29Umm Yeeah, I'm gonna need you to come in on saturday, ummkay?
- captaindigger, on 05/19/2008, -3/+30Where pissed off because the boomers have all the great good paying jobs and the Xe-rs are working at ***** call centers because the boomers are to ***** stupid to figure out how to use their computer/internet/cable service/telephones/blackberrys etc. etc.
- cubicledrone, on 05/19/2008, -2/+27Generation X will have the distinction of overturning two centuries of progress in this country. They will be the first generation in the history of this nation to do worse than their parents. They were lied to and sold out before they got anywhere near the workforce.
The effects of the layoffs, the uncertainty, the destruction of wealth, the bitterness and the complete betrayal of an entire generation of people will be felt in this country for the next one hundred years. Simply put, Generation X's future was stolen and sold off and the profits pocketed by their former employers.
We have deliberately wasted the educations and potential of tens of millions of people, and untold trillions of dollars of wealth.
Those are the facts. - FyreGoddess, on 05/19/2008, -1/+25That's part of my point, really. Gen Y never had to deal with that dream being shattered. We saw that different world first hand and we witnessed the change. You guys were lucky in some ways and when you entered the job market the face had already fundamentally changed.
You knew what you were getting into. We were promised something different and now, bitter and jaded, we have to figure out how to fit into what turned out to be the reality. - gaqua, on 05/19/2008, -20/+44Nothing is so annoying as reading "Xers" and "Yers" without any sense of irony behind it. There is no Generation X, there is no Generation Y.
- DangerCollie, on 05/19/2008, -2/+25Xers are on the receiving end of several trends that raise the suck factor in the workplace. The push to lower costs and raise profits mean that companies are constantly dinging you for more, more, more. More productivity, more work, more time at the office. More administrative tasks are getting pushed down to workers, mandatory meetings, inflexible hours and a host of other petty annoyances.. More employers making what I consider petty demands about things like dress, requiring invasive drug and background tests, restrictive non-competes, binding arbitration agreements and taking away any ability to customize your workspace or computer operating environment. The bottom line is that corporate stupidity tends to become your problem. And loyalty is a thing of the past. Layoffs sweep people out the door with little or no notice. So big surprise the younger generation knows they can't really count on a corporate employer. If you want to like the boss, be the boss.
So many Xers, and some of us from the older generation, have pretty much told corporate America to stick it right up their a**. I work with other developers and designers in their 20's and 30's and we get along fine. Because we're not slaved together under the near constant petty annoyances that go along with corporate employment. - MindTrigger, on 05/19/2008, -4/+27I don't know about the rest of you, but this 'Gen X' man is completely pissed off at his parents and the rest of the boomers. They made a mess of the world. They lived like gluttonous pigs. They bought all the useless appliances and gadgets that corporate American spewed forth. They didn't save enough money for retirement (if any) because they were too busy pissing it all down the drain on garbage products no one actually needed. Because of all of this, I have learned to reject their entire way of thinking.
I have found myself being less of a consumer and more of a giver in recent years. I am returning back to many basics that my parents walked away from such as gardening and being more self-sufficient at home. I have made changes in my home to slow the waste of resources, and use of destructive crap like plastic. Believe it or not, it's possible to lead a modern, techno-savvy life, while keeping your feet firmly in older, cleaner, more pure ways of living.
As for work, I have mostly decided that money is an illusion, and a waste of time. Sure I want the security money brings, but I do not want to waste my life trying to make excess cash to buy more crap I don't need. Ask any of the money chasers you know in your life what they will do when they become rich, and they will begin listing all the stuff they want to buy. They hold on to the illusion, much like our boomer parents, that money and material goods will fill the dark abyss in their souls that formed as a result of ignoring their families and walking away from nature.
I love my parents, and they are really good people. Like many other boomers though, they lost touch of what really matters in life, and bought into the false 'American Dream'. For me the things that really matter are family, friends, and the simple joys like camping, fishing, gardening, and studying personal interests. Nothing I own makes me feel as good as those things do, and I'm glad I have learned this at a fairly young age so I don't spend my life living for the next dollar (or Amero as the case may be) :) - uptwolait, on 05/19/2008, -9/+32You sound just like my last corporate boss, and I sure don't miss him now that I've left, started working for a smaller company with owners who admit people are different, take the time to understand their employees' strengths and weaknesses, and build teams around the people, not the task list. Oh, and I've doubled my previous salary at this job.
- doshindude, on 05/19/2008, -3/+26It's almost as annoying as "Web 2.0"
- inactive, on 05/19/2008, -1/+23I am so happy that I didn't sell my Soul to Corporate America. I am a Librarian and I ***** love my job.
- RonBurgundy76, on 05/19/2008, -0/+22You pretty much nailed it.
- shaka999, on 05/19/2008, -1/+21Ahhh, if only it were that simple.
Corporate politics are a big part of the problem. The best person very often DOESN'T get the promotion. Top people have empires to build and often ass kissers make it to the top faster than others. I guess you could always say thats part of the job but it shouldn't be. - mizike, on 05/19/2008, -0/+19"If I can do my job better than you do yours, I get the promotion. If you do yours better than I do mine, you get the promotion."
I hate to be cynical, but I've got to disagree with you as I've seen so many nepotistic idiots get jobs they are way under-qualified for it makes my head spin...
"meet your new supervisor...he's got an advanced degree from clown college, and, coincidentally, he's the CEO's nephew..." - cpg2018, on 05/19/2008, -1/+19There's also the fact that the Gex Xer's know that we will spend our whole lives dumping our paychecks into social security and never see a dime of it. Just another case of slaving away pointlessly for someone else's benefit under a system that was screwed up by our predecessors. Oh, and let's not forget that the people who could change it are too set in their ways and in their wallets to want to change it. Makes it very hard to love your job when someone else reaps the rewards.
- ninetimes, on 05/19/2008, -4/+21Because work sucks? I know, it sounds trite, but for many of us, work isn't "fun". It isn't cool, it isn't great, it's not a barrel of monkeys. Work is hard work, and especially trying to be a decent manager within a huge inefficient bureaucracy.
- SwordofKahless, on 05/19/2008, -2/+19Gen X's been around long enough to realize working the 70 hour work weeks for the man only provides short term financial rewards for themselves at the expense of having a life outside of work. This while the top officer level execs benefit from the back breaking work of Gen X workerbees by selling them out to make a quick buck and leave Gen X/Y having to change jobs every few years due to mergers and restructuring as a result.
It is no wonder why you see Gen X bailing out of the corporate world. Meanwhile GEN Y still buys into it the corporate fanboyism as witnessed on digg every day and shows like the Apprentice. - metalgel, on 05/19/2008, -0/+16I see all this potential, and I see squandering. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy ***** we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off.
- normalkid0615, on 05/19/2008, -0/+15I HATE YOU ALL
-written from my corporate jailcell - gripenfelter, on 05/19/2008, -0/+15Spot on!
- inactive, on 05/19/2008, -3/+17But why not do something that you find fun?
- inactive, on 05/19/2008, -3/+17Is a top 10 list the new scholarly essay?
- cubicledrone, on 05/19/2008, -0/+13I know for a fact they are worse off than their parents. Wages have been stagnant since 1972. Household debt is at all time highs. Job security doesn't exist.
By the time he was my age, my father had owned four homes. We have equivalent educations and skills. The difference between him and me is he didn't get fired or laid off. Ever. - FyreGoddess, on 05/19/2008, -0/+13An entire generation it may be, but we're a much smaller generation than the ones both before and after us.
- mandrakeRaptor, on 05/19/2008, -1/+14And thats why i probably buy it from you.
- jankind, on 05/19/2008, -2/+15I'm a Gen Xer and I don't feel threatened by the younger generation.
In fact, they make me fear for the future of this country, not my job. The ones where I work are kind of a joke. Faster and sharper? More like lazy and apathetic. - GRANDPAMUNSTER, on 06/11/2009, -0/+13Exactly, greedy CEO'S.
- RKnight, on 05/19/2008, -0/+13Right on, same here. It's nice being self employed, you get to choose your 70-hour work week. ;-)
- thailand1972, on 05/19/2008, -0/+12I'm exactly the same. I'm 36, and have been self-employed for the last 4 years. Corporate life sucks a big one and I'll never go back to it unless I'm literally starving / on the brink of homelessness. I don't know if it's specifically a "Gen X" thing, because I'm sure it sucks for many Gen Y and even "Boomers" in the office.
- HueyP, on 05/19/2008, -2/+14this article is spot on ... coming for a gen X'er, i forwarded this to my Development person in HR!!!
- TheDreadDiggerD, on 05/19/2008, -1/+13You go ahead and work your hardest. I'll get the promotion because I'm dead-weight and you're indispensable.
- inactive, on 05/19/2008, -4/+15Heh. My generation only saw that dream on reruns of old TV shows. Mainly it was people like Archie Bunker or his friends seeing their dreams shattered. Al Bundy is the guy I sometimes think of when the thought of staying at the same job for 30 years comes to mind.
- enntee, on 05/19/2008, -2/+13I've actually found that my happiness is much more dependent on factors other than payment. The big ones for me are co-workers, management, and -- above all else -- how much I enjoy the work I'm doing.
Don't get me wrong, money is cool, but some of the lower-paying jobs I've had have made me happier. -
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