GenerationalJobViews #JobMarketTrends #CareerExpectations
Understanding the Generational Divide in Job Perspectives
The job market is constantly evolving, and with it, the views and expectations of different generations. Let’s dive into why the younger and older generations see jobs so differently.
The Influence of Economic Conditions
🌟 Economic Factors
Economic conditions play a crucial role in shaping job perspectives. The older generation, who likely entered the workforce during more stable times, often had access to well-paying jobs with little to no student debt.
✅ Older Generation:
- 🏡 Affordable housing
- 📚 Low-cost education
- 🤝 Job security
✅ Younger Generation:
- 🏢 High cost of living
- 🎓 Expensive education and student loans
- 🌐 Gig economy and flexible jobs
Educational Costs and Debt
🌟 Education Expenses
The cost of education has skyrocketed over the decades. Older generations often graduated with little or no debt. In contrast, younger individuals face substantial student loans, influencing their career choices.
🎓 Older Generation:
- Affordable tuition
- Quick ROI on education
- Debt-free graduates
💡 Younger Generation:
- High tuition fees
- Significant student loans
- Preference for degree apprenticeships
Housing Market Dynamics
🌟 Housing Costs
The housing market has also shifted dramatically. Older generations were able to purchase homes relatively easily, whereas younger people find themselves renting due to exorbitant prices.
🏠 Older Generation:
- Bought homes with initial salaries
- Lower property prices
- Investment in real estate
🏙️ Younger Generation:
- High rental costs
- Struggle to save for down payments
- Prefer renting, leading to shared living spaces
Job Market Flexibility and Expectations
🌟 Employment Trends
The job market’s transformation has introduced new employment models. Younger generations often lean towards flexible work arrangements and side hustles as opposed to traditional 9-to-5 roles.
💼 Older Generation:
- Long-term employment
- Defined career paths
- Job loyalty
💻 Younger Generation:
- Gig economy
- Multiple income streams
- Emphasis on work-life balance
Technological Advancements
🌟 Tech Influence
Technology has reshaped job roles and introduced new career opportunities. Younger generations are more tech-savvy, adapting quickly to new tools and platforms.
🔧 Older Generation:
- Limited by pre-digital era tools
- Reliance on traditional skills
- Stable job roles
📱 Younger Generation:
- Embedded in digital culture
- Rapid learning of new tech
- Emerging job roles, such as social media managers
Cultural Shifts in Career Priorities
🌟 Value Changes
The cultural significance of jobs has shifted. For the older generation, work was a means to stability and success. For younger people, personal fulfillment and societal impact are increasingly important.
🔑 Older Generation:
- Stability and security
- Attainment of life’s milestones
- Long-term career goals
✨ Younger Generation:
- Pursuit of passion projects
- Work-life balance
- Social and environmental impact
Conclusion: Bridging the Gap
Understanding these differences can help bridge the generational gap in job expectations. Both perspectives are valid and shaped by unique experiences and challenges.
👥 For Employers:
- Offer flexible working arrangements
- Provide clear pathways for growth
- Address student loan support
👥 For Individuals:
- Embrace lifelong learning
- Adaptability to changing markets
- Open dialogue with other generations
By acknowledging and respecting these differences, both the younger and older generations can find common ground and mutual understanding in the ever-evolving job market. 🌍🤝
A youngish university professor here. Love my job, killer working hours to the point it is making me ill. Drowning in debt from student loans. Cannot afford to buy a house. Commute 4hrs to get to work because rents are crazy where my university is and I can’t take house sharing anymore.
Honestly, take your time and really decide if you want to go to university and what career path, business etc you want to do.
The world and cost of living is completely different from their generation, so take any advice given with a pinch of salt.
Many of my peersl do have well paid careers from university. They also didn’t have mental breakdowns from working so hard as they had parental and financial support to set them up for success. If you don’t have that you either have to find that support (e.g. from employers) or consider what you are willing to trade off. For me all this intense overworking (part time jobs, volunteering, running various projects, researching in my spare time and consistently performing top of my classes) then going into a career which demanded the same level of commitment to even get a permanent job led to a complete mental breakdown. I knew that it would likely happen and decided to pay the price. I don’t recommend this at all and do everything I can currently to help my students not make the same tradeoffs. (I certainly get into trouble with my manager for speaking so openly with prospective and actual students about this issue).
I wouldn’t change going to university, it has widened my perspectives and benefited me in so many ways. If you can do it I completely believe in it’s value for everything other than financial. Financially it has destroyed me. My current pay isn’t worth it either. Try not to get yourself into overwhelming debt. You know your circumstances best, create the best path for you given the circumstances.
If you have a better way to make your life sustainable, more content and have as much financial security as you can I fully encourage it.
If university is something you want to do, try and find jobs that will sponsor it. Here we have degree apprenticeships.
Build your own path! I believe in your ability to do that.
Older people come from a time when jobs paid a guy enough to get by, even shitty ones, and it was relatively easy to do a side hustle to make your life better than your coworkers who did not do a hustle(in this case I’m including things like night school at college to be a hustle as well).
Young people are the children of folks who can’t survive working alone, they hustle to survive, and young folks don’t understand why you would rely on a job, and push themselves to develop their hustles early and not have to try to make a job work. Many young people don’t respect employers because they know that they can survive better paying themselves for their own effort.
> She told us that when she went to university she paid £3,500 PER YEAR as left with NO STUDENT DEBT and was able to buy a 4 bedroom house with her first job, and husband.
I am curious what she got her degree in and where that house was located.
I am late 50s and University tuition was about 5K a year when I went to university. She and her husband bought a four bedroom house while she worked at her first job. How long was she at that job before she bought the house, what was her job and what was her husband’s job? What are the time frames that all this took place.
Now why she doesn’t get that 35K won’t let you do that is a mystery. Common sense should tell her that.
Well- my grandma worked for the same company (UPS) until she retired at 60 with a pension. She had kids, grand kids, a handicapped child, and no college education. My mother also didn’t go to college but worked her way up and actually now runs the financial department of a community college. She is a handful of years away from being able to retire so she’s going to hunker down because she knows she wouldn’t be able to get this job again without an education. I went to college because it was what everyone told me to do. I didn’t know what I wanted to do (because who really knows what jobs exist at 18) so I changed majors A LOT. Couldn’t finish a degree because I couldn’t pass college algebra (took it 6 semesters). Ends up with over around 100 college credits but no math so no actual degree. No degree but $25,000 in tuition debt. I have anxiety, adhd, and I’m probably on the autism spectrum. I can’t even take a sick day without thinking I’m going to lose my job in one way or another. I’ve never had a job that I thought “this is the one. I could be here forever.” A job is just a job and in fact I kind of resent it when people try to get more out of me. I just want to live. I don’t want my job to define me.
There are noted and observed characteristics and defining traits in each generation. While not 100% accurate 100% of the time, there are patterns/themes with each. A topic like jobs/employment/working is very much influenced differently with each generation. The “why” behind it is based upon what some of the commenters have already illustrated – shit kinda sucks for the younger generation so there is a different attitude about it.
Assuming your professor started college immediately after graduating high school, that means she probably entered uni somewhere between 1983 and 1991. Costs for everyday living, medical care, and college tuition are vastly different now than they were then.
If your professor has been in academia long enough, it’s conceivable that they could be totally out of touch with this, because they and their spouse are probably making great money. The key to having perspective isn’t making x amount of money, it’s understanding what your margins are between your income and your living expenses and how much money you have left over after meeting said expenses. The dollar amounts have changed over the decades, so margin percentages are a better way to measure, in my opinion. Unfortunately, it is much more difficult to have those margins today because wages have not kept up with the cost of living. Nowadays, if you want to live comfortably, build wealth, etc. you have to get into a trade (e.g. sheet metal, plumbing, electrician), get a masters/doctorate university degree in a technical field (some type of engineering, finance, accounting, etc.), or be some sort of entrepreneurial whiz who comes up with a business idea that fills a need and generates a lot of money. Of course, there are exceptions that can happen, but this is generally how it works now.
Back in the 80’s and previous decades, there were more options available. You could graduate high school, and instead of going to college or into a construction trade, you could go to work at a major grocery chain, in a factory, at a lumber mill, etc. and make a career (moving up through the ranks) and retire with a good pension or retirement fund with a paid-for home (or two)–all while raising a family. Sadly, those days are gone.
> She looked shocked. Like I’d just pulled an alligator out the arsehole and named it Jerry.
I can’t imagine the look on her face now lol I’d be mortified
Old people lived in a time when entry level meant entry level. Zero experience, minimum education. **Then they trained you and invested in your retirement with you**. Now 99% of places under pay compared to COL, entry level requires 3 YOE, no one wants to train people, social security is gone, almost no more money matching for retirement, they try to 1099 you whenever possible and trim benefits
A job used to be a place you started at, grew almost like a family, and gracefully left the workforce from. Now it’s a place you go to survive and need to get yours before some idiot in power razes it to the ground.
People do not realize how much the cost of living has changed.
I’m trying to keep this a bit short. Older people lived during a time where the barrier of entry was much lower, most trained on the job and even the “shit” jobs were still enough to live.
The youth now has a higher barrier of entry, jobs don’t really want to train and aren’t paying much for today’s cost of living. A lot of them probably saw their parents busting their ass at 1 or 2 jobs and/or having a side hustle as well. A job now for many is kinda like a side hustle in their mind for most but with a semi-consistent check.
Because boomers had to walk to school in raging snowstorms. Uphill. Both ways.