Perspective The Millennial Generation and Job Opportunities

Those born between 1980 and 2000 comprise the generation known
as the Millennials. That generation is faced with challenges much greater than
those their parents and grandparents had to face due to the rate of change of
the digital technology and its impact on virtually every job.The Millennials
are entering the market just as digital devices are replacing human labor in
scores of job types at an accelerating rate. This occurs in virtually all job
categories, but ordinary mid-pay jobs and starting jobs where a Millennial
might expect to begin a career are hit the hardest. The more routine and
repetitive the job, the easer it is replace it with a computer based machine.
In an economy that is not expanding, this shrinkage of jobs is serious, and is
virtually unnoticed by the media and our government. Perhaps it is not
surprising that the highest unemployment rate rests with the Millennials. The
irony is that the Millennial generation is the first generation to adapt with
ease to the new digital technology which they began to acquire in pre-school. 

The driving force behind this trend is that businesses
actually prefer machines to humans. Machines work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
and 365 days a year. They work faster and more accurately than humans. They
don’t get sick, take vacations, need maternity leave, go on strike, need health
care or be provided with annual raises, bonuses, IRAs or Social Security.
Experts predict that about 40 percent of such present jobs could be replaced
with current digital technology, and this includes most service jobs. On top of
this let’s not forget that jobs replaced by machines will never return! Furthermore,
machines pay no taxes and purchase no products. Millennials will have to deal
with this issue, as well.

The list of jobs that is vulnerable is shown in the Appendix
below. 

Ironically, the positions of the generations have been
reversed. Today, Millennials know more about the tools of the trade (digital
devices) than their bosses who are of their parent and grandparent generations,
so the mentoring that came from learning how to use the tools from the elders may
be lost.  Consider this! Historically,
while in an apprenticeship, the apprentice (Millennial) would have been taught
by the “master” (older generation) regarding how to use the tools, but the
apprentice was also mentored how the business worked, the importance of
culture, integrity and how to be a good neighbor when working side-by-side with
other worker. 

 Moreover, the
generations born from 1900 to 1980 held most culture concepts in common and
spoke a common cultural language. During this period Society had four pillars
to help youth to assimilate the culture and become responsible citizens. These
were: (1) a parent who understood and accepted the job of teaching the child,
(2) a neighbor who assumed the role of a partner with the parent, (3) the
school that became the surrogate parent with all the rights of the parent while
the child was under it’s supervision, and finally (4) the Sunday school where
the child learned about God and to love one’s neighbor. Unfortunately, for the Millennials
these pillars have been weakened if not completely destroyed. 

Consequently, the Millennial is expected to come to the job
ready to start work. This places the Millennial in a position of virtually
being on his or her own in this radically and rapidly changing time. Whereas it
was common for your parents and especially your grandparent’s generations to
spend an entire career in one business often with one company with many mentors
as the career progressed, that is mostly gone, also. Experts believe that
Millennials will have to change jobs multiple times during their career. So they
will have to find their own mentors. That will require creating a network of
sources for support. Parents and grandparents can and should be part of that
network. The older generations may not have the skills and facility with the
modern digital technology the Millennials have, but they have and amazing
amount of wisdom that is timeless. And if you did not know it, they would love
to share the wisdom with you at any time they are asked!!! 

Grandparents and even parents need not sit on the side
lines. One way for them to participate is to become less intimated with digital
technology. In other words, try to communicate with the Millennials on their
turf!  It is not that difficult to text, send
e-mails, and visit and comment on Facebook and other social media to keep up
with your Millennials. You can do this, and you will be amazed how they will
react to you!  Doing this is not just
important, it is essential. 

The message about the economy and the place of the
Millennial need not be one of doom and gloom. The United
States is poised for economic growth, based
on an abundance of low cost energy and the technical leadership to exploit it
in an environmentally sound manner. The Millennials can and will be able to engage
in this opportunity.  

The United States
is still great because it is still the best form of government that could be
devised by humans. It is based on the Constitution which is not out of date. It
is just as valid and modern as it was when it was created in 1781 by our
brilliant Founding Fathers. The Millennials, in partnership with the parent and
grandparent generations, can and will preserve it, and in doing so can mutually
enjoy the economic benefits that will logically flow.

ADDENDUM

“All Over the World, Technology
Is Replacing Employees”

AP Article Dated January 23, 2013

Key Findings:

 

• Technology
  is being adopted by every kind of organization that employees people.
• It’s
  replacing workers in large and small established companies, start-ups,
  schools, hospitals and the military.

 

• The
  most vulnerable workers are those doing repetitive tasks.
• For
  example, e.g. accountants and paralegals.

 

• Startups
  are launched with a third fewer employees than in the 1990’s.
• These
  account for most of the job growth today

 

• It’s
  becoming a self-serve world.
• Instead
  of relying on someone else to do the task, we use technology to do it
  ourselves. (Think ATM, and grocery checkouts) This trend will grow.
•  

This chart summarizes some of the pertinent features of the
generations living today.

                                                                                                     Computer                          

Name                            Born             
Age            Population       Skills

                                                                       
                                  1-10

GI                                1900-1924       90 +               5 million          0-1

Greatest                       1925-1945       69-89 
         35 million          1-3

Baby Boomers             1946-1964       50-68           80 million          5-7

X                                 1965-1979       35-49           40 million           8-9

Millennial                    1980-2000       14-34           70 million           10+

Present                         2001-Present      0- 3