I have a confession: while I am proud to be a Millennial (shout out to the 90's, and all the Tamagotchis who perished there), I do get a little sick of hearing about "us." I get tired of reading rants about how we, collectively, are entitled, emotional, and lazy. Or counter-rants about how we are actually just efficient, energetic, and resourceful.
Because, frankly, does anyone really believe that universal characterizations of such a huge group of people actually mean anything?
Well, it turns out some people do. So much so that they're willing to pay $20,000 an hour—an hour—to learn more about us.
If you have time, definitely go ahead and read the entire Wall Street Journal article. If not, let me summarize with this stat: it's estimated that last year, U.S. organizations spent between $60 to $70 million on "generational consulting"—people whose job is to help different generations work together in the workplace.
In other words, not only is interpreting Millennials "a thing"—it's actually a thing that's pretty high in demand.
I'll be honest, when I first read the article, I thought it was absurd. Absurd that anyone would consider themselves an expert on 75.4 million people, and even more absurd that these "experts" are getting hired.
Last year, U.S. organizations spent between $60 to $70 million on generational consulting.
But after I let the "absurdity" settle in, I wondered—what if they are on to something?
While I do think it's silly to assume that all (or even a majority) of 75.4 million people have specific character traits simply because they were born around the same time (every generation has their lazy glubs, just like every generation has their Beyoncés), even I have to admit that growing up in this generation must have some impact on how we, collectively, think.
For example, not many twenty-somethings would ever head to the library if they needed to know a stat; we've grown up and have been conditioned to function in a world of Wikipedia and Google, where we can get answers without waiting for the librarian to help us find an encyclopedia. And if, God forbid, Wikipedia and Google fail us, we can always send it out to Twitter. Someone out there has to know, right?
Basically, we've grown up in a world that is so much different than anything any other generation has seen before. Information comes faster, connections come easier (hey, LinkedIn), and we haven't printed a boarding pass in our lives. So is it such a crazy idea that we, as a generation, not only think a certain way, but also think in a way that other generations don't? Is it absurd to think that we approach the world in a way that other generations have a hard time understanding?
Maybe it is.
Or maybe we actually do need generational consultants bridging that gap.
Maybe it is.
Or maybe we actually do need generational consultants bridging that gap.
I guess my jury is still out on this one. I'm certainly not hiring a Baby Boomer expert anytime soon, but do I think these generational consultants are more legitimate than explaining how to face swap?
Well, $70 million makes me think they might be.
Do you think Millennials are that hard to understand? If you were a manager, would you hire a generational consultant for your company?
