Millennials get a pretty bad rap. I think we can all agree to that, right?
Whether it’s warranted or not, older people like to give them a hard time about their life decisions. And one thing that seems to constantly come up is how Millennials tend to throw in the towel and quit jobs and other things in life if they aren’t satisfied with them.
Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
Here’s what a man in his 50s had to say about the behavior that he sees in Millennials.
I highly respect millennials that walk out of jobs or any inconvenience in life
As a man in my late 50s I wish I had the halls to walk off a job when I was younger. After starting my own business and spending years in upper management I have to say I love millennials and think they will change the work place for the better.
Seeing a 22 college grad say that’s not my job and not in my job description always gave me a envy boner, watching a middle manager retort with if you don’t like the job leave and having a millennial fire back I’ll send out 100 apps on indeed tonight and have a new one tommorrow bye! Wanna know what that makes me do?
Think hard about how my employees are treated and how well they are paid because on today’s day and age my job is just as replaceable as they are. Keep ghosting and walking away my young friends I get it!
Let’s see where this discussion went with some interesting responses from Reddit users.
1. Choose to be happy.
“I think this should be a more appreciated thing. Humans shouldn’t be strong-armed into staying at a job or in a relationship that doesn’t benefit them.
I’m facing an issue now with my work who is planning on moving me into a position I didn’t apply for (and that I don’t have the certifications for) just because they think I’m a good worker, very agreeable, and I will figure it out. Sorry, no, that’s not okay with me.
The position will make me unhappy. If I am unhappy I will leave without hesitation because I know I can find a job elsewhere with my experience and work ethic. I have no loyalty to a job that has no loyalty to me. I refuse to waste my time being unhappy at a job. I did that for 15 years.
I approach relationships the same way. I see so many friends in unhappy relationships and I don’t get why they don’t just leave. It’s very cut and dry for me. Happiness is my ultimate choice.”
2. Looking elsewhere.
“Yes! My current job is always pushing me to do projects that I have no business doing.
I’m not lazy or unwilling to help out where I can, but I have bad anxiety when it comes to public speaking/presenting.
There is no way I could do it and it was never part of the job description. I’ve already started looking elsewhere.”
3. Pretty simple.
“It’s pretty simple really, many people aren’t marketable in terms of work or dating.
They cling on to whatever they can find because they don’t want to risk not being able to find another decent job or partner which is absolutely a possibility.
Is having nothing better than having something that kind of sucks but kind of works for you?”
4. Your tactics worked.
“I’m 28 and remember being nervous about making even slight mistakes in my first job and early in my second. By the time I started at my current one as a warehouse operative, I was fully aware of being able to do this.
I bumped heads with everyone from team leaders and managers in my first few months and was threatened with disciplinary action on two occasions when they had no real basis to do so since they were asking me to do things that simply weren’t my job, first time I just shrugged and told them that was fine so go ahead. Second, I told them I’d walk at the first sign of disciplinary.
Funny enough, I’m now a warehouse supervisor and work on logistics. No disciplinary on my record.”
5. Boom!
“I got called into the general managers office to be written up. I’ve never missed a day, but apparently being 5 min late warranted action.
They told me if I was late again I would be fired. I laughed in their faces and said you might as well turn those into termination papers because I will be late. It totally caught them off guard.
I ended up yelling at them and telling them I was a sh*t employee because I get sh*t pay. I do the job in paid for. I walked out with a 4 dollar raise and no disciplining.
Getting to the point where you don’t care anymore is a powerful position.”
6. Sometimes, it works.
“I remember being in a high level board meeting when I was about 29.
Youngest guy in the room. I disagreed with whatever the consensus was, and told one of the biggest shareholders in the company he was wrong, and that what he was suggesting wasn’t in our company culture.
My boss took me aside and reprimanded me for talking up to the big guy. The big guy then told my boss to give me a bonus. I always wanted to see the look on his face when he realized my NGAF approach had worked better than his *ss kissing ever could.”
7. Taken advantage of.
“Millennial here, I was the most loyal hard working employee. I’d go above and beyond, work sick, tired, underpaid.
I was just taken advantage of, looking back, I wasted my time slaving for employers that never cared about my hard work, they were just making a ton of money off a guy willing to do 3 people’s jobs.
I’m 30 now. I just wish my body wasn’t beat up now.”
8. Wow.
“At my first job out of college, I was totally over worked and when I finally quit after the first year, they replaced my position with FOUR people.
It gave me some satisfaction knowing that I was actually doing a good job and that my boss was terrible.”
9. Miserable.
“I got a job before graduating.
I walked away from this 9-7 job where I had to relocate to an industrial area and my commute my parents home was 4 hours. Sure, I was working extremely hard, the living cost ate away a big chunk of my income, my boss acting like a jerk, my dreams were broken but at the end of the day I had financial security.
I left the job hoping that would bring me joy but instead I have been unemployed for the last year or so and l am living with my parents. My parents are miserable and I am constantly depressed.
I hate doing freelancing, talking with clients, getting rejected regularly, not having steady income and I hate myself for not providing financial support to my parents because they only source of income which was rental income has completely stopped.
I am miserable.”
10. Wish I’d done it more.
“As a man in my 30s I admire it too. I wish i had done it more. Never settle. If it doesn’t feel right. If it doesn’t feel good, get the f*ck out of it.
You only have one existence to live. And that existence belongs to you. Your 20s goes by fast and before you know it you are 30.. and then 40… And things aren’t physically and mentally as easy to do anymore. Health issues start up.
Your chances to have a family of your own disappear slowly and you wake up one day realizing you’ve been cuckked by your bosses and employers who used you like a worthless wage slave to fund a life and family of their own while you’re nothing but an old decrepit single piece of sh*t with only your self left in this world.”
11. Kind of agree…
“I kind of agree in a way.
I do think there are a lot of workplaces in which employees are treated poorly/pushed beyond what their contract asks etc. And we are conditioned to think that is okay, that “oh well we just deal with it, others have it worse”.
Sometimes the only recourse is to take a stand against what you feel is not right for you.
That being said, I have known people who walked out of literally every job for the slightest thing that annoys them. Begging the question what do they actually want out of a job.”
12. A good thing.
“I think the normalization of “walking away” from bad jobs is a good thing for business competitiveness.
If your job is good in general, your employees will stay, otherwise, they’ll walk out on you and leave you high and dry. There’s no one else’s fault but the bad business’s fault.
TBH our generation is well aware of how bad the job market is and the insane expectations from employers beforehand for an applicant.
I had this discussion with my S.O. as she’s worked in a traditional career path vs. my tradesman career path and have noticed the stigma of employees who “walk away” from a job and how it’s becoming a more common thing now a days vs. how it was during our parents or grandparents time.
The days of “employee loyalty” are essentially over. People are starting to realize that as employees you are replaceable and there’s less and less of a reason for people to exceed expectations in the workplace.
Some employers are getting it but unfortunately most have not yet. And the most that haven’t I feel will get it the hard way.”
13. I’m in charge now.
“I’m in my mid 30s and worked in construction or trades since I was about 20.
I busted my *ss because I knew I didn’t have the skills or qualifications to get the good jobs or to get the things I wanted. Eventually I learned and became the most useful, hard working employee. They wouldn’t treat me any better or even acknowledge my worth so I moved on.
The next place, I upgraded some more and fought with them to rise in the company. Same thing so I moved on. Eventually I got to the point that I was the best at what I did in the entire area. I was still just treated like a number and had to fight for everything including the pay for the extra hours I worked for them.
I kept going and going and making myself more qualified and more capable and no matter what I couldn’t make what I should or get treated properly so I quit that business all together.
I now own a company and work from home. I never have to break my back for some idiot who’s never even worked in a job like mine while I get paid as little as they can get away with. I never have to touch another tool or piece of equipment again.
I now sit at a computer all day and hang out with my family whenever I want. I spend time with my dogs and enjoy the things I spent so many years earning.
I will never let somebody else tell me I’m not good enough to pay me a decent wage. I will never be looked down on even though I’ve worked harder in a day than they’ve worked in their entire life.
Even if my company fails I am now in the position that going back to work will be on my terms and if they don’t give me what I deserve then I won’t work there because I’ve been taken advantage of enough to know that if you let them do it even for small things they will just keep doing it.”
Hmmmm…I’m sure this question gets people pretty fired up.
And that’s why we want to hear from you!
In the comments, tell us what you think about this. Please and thank you!
