Tired of Managing Millenials

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I also wonder where most of these people work. I spent nearly a decade in consulting previously and there was always an expectation that you would have enough people to cover in unexpected situations so leave had to be planned. I would also always check in when away. Most clients had my cell phones anyhow so would call or text while on vacation.

Just because you are married to your job and choose to make it the primary focus of your life, other people don't have to do the same. When I take vacation there's no way I'm checking in, texting, or calling. It's a vacation for a reason.

[Anonymous]

Millennials are killing the “acting like your job owns your entire life” industry.

[Anonymous]

“Sorry, son. Turns out I can’t come to your high school graduation.”

“Why?”

“My boss is an out-of-touch and cold hearted piece of work, who forced me to work instead of seeing you cross that stage. My boss also cannot compute basic arithmetic.”

“Wait, what do you mean your boss doesn’t know math?”

“‘Well, my boss cannot comprehend how a Millenial could be old enough to have a senior in high school. I was born in 1981, which makes me 42. You are 18 years old and the class of 2023. I gave birth to you when I was 24. So, you see how my boss is somehow a mix between Lumberg from Office Space and a troglodyte?”

“Yes, mom. I love you.”

Please note, in regards to the Millenial age range, researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000s as ending birth years, with the generation typically being defined as people born from 1981 to 1996. There’s some overlap of Gen X, Millenials, and Gen Z timeframes. It’s not a set-in-stone age range.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are many of the posters in such low level jobs that nobody would notice two people being out of the office at the same time or some generic temp could easily be slotted in?

Wrong direction. Many of us are in high enough level jobs where no one cares about facetime. All we need is a phone and an internet connection.

It's not even that for me. Yes, I'm willing to work virtual on a vacation for something critical as needed.

For me, I work on large projects with relatively predictable events on the horizon. If something major is on the horizon (let's say a big review meeting with the client/customer), it is scheduled with key people's availability taken into consideration. It is planned specifically around when X, Y and Z are available. In turn, I know when these things are coming, and I don't schedule a vacation that could be any old week without confirming dates for work events. Things that can't be moved, I expect work will work with me. No one would ever ask me to miss an unmovable event for work. I would also not expectt a week off during a critical time for a wedding or graduation.still

On any given week, there could be really important things happening, but nothing falls apart if absolutely no one does anything for a week. It would be BAD, but recoverable. I realize not all jobs are like that, but there are more of them than some people think.

Many years ago when I was an intern (and arguable incredibly unimportant!) and used to asking for vacation, my manager basically told me to stop asking and just to make sure my workload was managed. The culture in every workplace since then was to let my managers know of vacation plans, with an unspoken agreement to be cognizant of waiting for specific dates for major events before booking something. (And even then, you could miss those if you had a good reason.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There’s a fundamental shift happening as the boomers are retiring en masse and more Millennials, Gen Z, and to some extent Gen X are in the workplace. We’re people who have seen that loyalty to a company is meaningless and they will drop you if it’s convenient. We don’t have any chance at pensions and some of us have seen parents get only a portion of what they were promised if theirs went bankrupt. If we want to take our vacation we’re going to take our vacation and there’s not a lot you can do about it. Sure, you can fire us, but there’s always another job hiring.

Sure. But keep it up and there’ll be a few short term stints on your resume and no references so you might not get the jobs you want. Plus, if any promotion possibilities emerge, you won’t be high on the list. It might be wiser to take a longer term view and it shouldn’t be that hard to request leave early (to ensure you have first dibs).

They did - 2 months is plenty of time to figure out a week of coverage. OP is worried he’s going to be too busy writing performance reviews to give them time off like he can’t just write them a different time. He specifically said he expects 24/7 on call from his employees but then freaks out about an errand done during work hours. It’s pretty obvious who is being unreasonable here.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A millennial has a son in high school?

Yes? I'm a millennial and I have a kid graduating high school this year. I was 21 when they were born, too. Millennials are older than you seem to think.

No, it’s just that DCUM cannot fathom that anyone had a child prior to the age of 35.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why does someone need a WEEK off for a graduation? I can see three days, tops.

I took a week off for both of my kids graduation. We had family in town and I had to prepare for their graduation parties.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why does someone need a WEEK off for a graduation? I can see three days, tops.

Why the f ck should anyone use their PTO? I mean, they get 2 days off for the weekend. Do you people really manage employees? This is like basics of managing.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like you need better organisation skills OP. They've given you plenty of notice and had the decency to inform you when they won't be working. You're the boss, time to act your wage and figure out a solution to YOUR problem. If they were both sick that week, or one was on leave and the other sick, then you'd have to find a way to make it work. This is no different, in fact it's better because you have plenty of time to organise everyone's workload and manage your deadlines. If you can't plug the gaps of leave and sickness for one week then you are chronically understaffed and overworking everyone. You sound like the sort of boss that revokes approved leave because someone else quit or called in sick? That's a you problem.

If you refuse to approve it then you'll end up being down two staff for the long-term, instead of just a week

And to those of you who think Gen Z are going to give in to your tantrums, most of them haven't started working yet and you are in for one hell of a nasty surprise!

[Anonymous]

Sounds to me like you're running a caliber of workplace where I would just no show no call, attend the wedding and find a better job. Everywhere is hiring right now

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm tired of working for jerks.

And how does a millennial have a hs graduate? I'm 36 and am an older millennial.

She prob had her kid right after she graduated from college. The oldest millennials are 38. She would have had her kid at 20 or 21

[Anonymous]

WHY does she need a week off for a high school graduation?

[Anonymous]

OP, you should be really careful here. You've provided a LOT of specific detail.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WHY does she need a week off for a high school graduation?

I feel like this is OP who keeps asking this very stupid question that’s been answered over and over again…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WHY does she need a week off for a high school graduation?

Are you really this dense? This isn't the military. She didn't sign an enlistment contract. She using her PTO, which is an important component of her compensation. Start playing the game of telling employees what is and isn't worthy of their PTP and see how quickly they're gone.

I just don't understand how some of you posters can really be this bad at managing.