I am a millennial tired of the whiny Gen Xers and boomers in my office. I never discuss my personal life and never complain. Stop generalizing.

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Anonymous wrote:All of the millennials I know with two working parents, even if they work from home, have some form of regular professional childcare.

+1 and they are very responsible. The ones that get me are the 20 somethings with no kids that expect time off for every friends wedding, bachelor party (destination party for which they need several days), shower (again a destination party for which they need several days) plus lots and lots of mental health days plus remote time so they can work from wherever their significant other is, and also don’t want to check email on their days away from the office. I may retire early and let the millennials figure this out!

I am an older millennial, and I agree with the 20-something attitudes. Work to live, not live to work.

Those of us who own or have equity in a business disagree. Adopting their attitude is probably easier if you work for the federal government, but when you hire a 20-something to lighten your load and contribute to the success of your firm/company/business, you might feel differently.

The person you hire doesn't have equity in your business. What are you doing to make it worthwhile their while?

Do they get a paycheck, yes? and some benefits? There you go!

Employers like to say that compensation is commensurate with experience, but it is also true that work effort is commensurate with compensation.

I am totally with you. I raised 2 D1 athletes, and 1 top 10 college admit. Lots of practices, lots of trips, lots of debates, lots of band things... while working full time. You can do it - GTFU.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of the millennials I know with two working parents, even if they work from home, have some form of regular professional childcare.

+1 and they are very responsible. The ones that get me are the 20 somethings with no kids that expect time off for every friends wedding, bachelor party (destination party for which they need several days), shower (again a destination party for which they need several days) plus lots and lots of mental health days plus remote time so they can work from wherever their significant other is, and also don’t want to check email on their days away from the office. I may retire early and let the millennials figure this out!

I am an older millennial, and I agree with the 20-something attitudes. Work to live, not live to work.

Those of us who own or have equity in a business disagree. Adopting their attitude is probably easier if you work for the federal government, but when you hire a 20-something to lighten your load and contribute to the success of your firm/company/business, you might feel differently.

The person you hire doesn't have equity in your business. What are you doing to make it worthwhile their while?

+1

Why should they miss out on weddings or check their email on days off so *your* business equity increases?

If you’re having a hard time finding employees to live up to the expectations you are setting then you’re not providing enough compensation. And let’s be real, if you could replace them with technology you would in a heartbeat. Employees know this. Which is why they’re not going to give up their wellbeing so you can get rich.

Be responsible for running your own company.

Gen X is the forgotten generation for a reason.

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Anonymous wrote:40 something year old gen Xer here and I think it’s great that Millennials and gen Zers have made it socially acceptable to take so much time off of work! I’m a bit of a slacker and wish it was ok to do that when I was young. We put so many hours into work to the detriment of the rest of our lives.

Agree, but it’s not great when they take more time off than their managers, who are left picking up their slack. The hardworking among them will not face as much competition in advancing their careers as we did.

They are entitled to use their leave. Period. And if they have a reasonable
and understanding workplace-like mine- that wont affect career progression. But you assume everyone wants the Big Job and Big Title. Not everyone does.

Entitlement, poor work ethic + failure to meet expectations will affect your career path in any well-managed for-profit company. Happy to send our entitled twenty-something your way soon.

I mean literally every generation ever has had to.fire someone. If you can't find staff, that's a you problem.

OMG Millennials have two conversations: 1) complaining and 2) Harry Potter.

I am GenX and give me a Zoomer any day at work. The millenials are DOWNERS.

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Anonymous wrote:Gen X is really shaping up to be the new boomers, eh?

Let's see you survive, pre-gramps...

Rent: $2572/mo
Utilities: $350 (water, power, trash, internet)
Health insurance: $416/mo (is the half we pay & company pays other half)
Eye insurance: $50/mo ($25 ea for both me & hubby - kid is covered under health insurance)
Dental insurance: $44/mo ($22 eas for both me & hubby - kid is covered under health insurance)
Car 1: $0 - paid off
Car 1 insurance: $40/mo
Car 2: $216/mo but paying $400/mo so it will be paid off by July
Car 2 insurance: $65/mo
Student loan 1: $683/mo
Student loan 2: $515/mo
Daycare for 18 mo: $1314/mo
=$6096

And that doesn't even include groceries, tolls/gas/car expenses, personal care items, or other monthly expenses.

And yes, we've been trying to buy a house for 3 years now. We keep getting outbid, like, $50k-$70k outbid.

I imagine it is difficult to raise kids while paying off student loans. It's so sad that someone forces you to start a family before you were on firmer financial footing. We need to do better as a country, and allow people to defer having kids until they are in a better situation.

We have both paid off what we borrowed yet we both still owe more than we borrowed. It's the insane interest that is crippling millennials, not the actual paying back the loans.

And you should be thankful that we did have a kid because we are anomalies. None of our millennial friends, single or coupled, want kids because of costs. I took my kid to more doggy bday parties than human bday parties in 2024.

Oh my.

First, if you're going to complain about "insane interest rates" you really need to specify them.

Second, we have just left an extended period of historically low rates. If you didn't find a way to take advantage of them, that's on you.

Third, if you have paid back your original principal, and still owe more than that principal, you elected something far longer than the standard 10-year repayment plan. That's a choice you undoubtedly made to keep your monthly payments down. Based on some back of the envelope math, you're near or past the 10-year repayment period.

Fourth, and most importantly, NONE of your points are responsive to my point, which was that you decided to have children while still owing more that $1000/month in student loan payments. Based on your financial circumstances, it was entirely foreseeable that you wouldn't be able to both have a kid and purchase a house. You chose the kid. I'm not suggesting that was the wrong choice - I may have made the same one in your circumstances. But it was a choice, and it's pretty "whiny," to circle back to the OP, that you are complaining about the consequences of that choice now.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of the millennials I know with two working parents, even if they work from home, have some form of regular professional childcare.

+1 and they are very responsible. The ones that get me are the 20 somethings with no kids that expect time off for every friends wedding, bachelor party (destination party for which they need several days), shower (again a destination party for which they need several days) plus lots and lots of mental health days plus remote time so they can work from wherever their significant other is, and also don’t want to check email on their days away from the office. I may retire early and let the millennials figure this out!

I am an older millennial, and I agree with the 20-something attitudes. Work to live, not live to work.

I'm a Gen Xer and I also agree with this - why shouldn't you take your leave to go do fun things? I assume they're not taking PTO they don't have for this, so why do you care what they're doing with it? And you shouldn't check email while you're out of the office. You're using your leave, so take leave and be away.

I'm taking it even further. My kids will have a free babysitter (that's me and several family members), I encourage life/work balance, and will have 'fuk you' money before they even start working for someone. I expect them to do a good job, but not go above and beyond like I did.
What I was put through at workplace, was abuse and against some kind of law. No break in 12-hours and minimum wage met were just the few things. Few trips to ER and lots of work without pay. While I'm to old to stick it to the man, I want them to be able to do it if needed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:40 something year old gen Xer here and I think it’s great that Millennials and gen Zers have made it socially acceptable to take so much time off of work! I’m a bit of a slacker and wish it was ok to do that when I was young. We put so many hours into work to the detriment of the rest of our lives.

Agree, but it’s not great when they take more time off than their managers, who are left picking up their slack. The hardworking among them will not face as much competition in advancing their careers as we did.

They are entitled to use their leave. Period. And if they have a reasonable
and understanding workplace-like mine- that wont affect career progression. But you assume everyone wants the Big Job and Big Title. Not everyone does.

Entitlement, poor work ethic + failure to meet expectations will affect your career path in any well-managed for-profit company. Happy to send our entitled twenty-something your way soon.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All of the millennials I know with two working parents, even if they work from home, have some form of regular professional childcare.

+1 and they are very responsible. The ones that get me are the 20 somethings with no kids that expect time off for every friends wedding, bachelor party (destination party for which they need several days), shower (again a destination party for which they need several days) plus lots and lots of mental health days plus remote time so they can work from wherever their significant other is, and also don’t want to check email on their days away from the office. I may retire early and let the millennials figure this out!

I am an older millennial, and I agree with the 20-something attitudes. Work to live, not live to work.

I'm a Gen Xer and I also agree with this - why shouldn't you take your leave to go do fun things? I assume they're not taking PTO they don't have for this, so why do you care what they're doing with it? And you shouldn't check email while you're out of the office. You're using your leave, so take leave and be away.

This!!

And for the VA nurse, sounds like a management issue. If your coworkers are truly using all of their sick and annual leave and continue to call out sick, they must be using LWOP. That’s either covered under FMLA or will become a larger issue with HR and management soon enough. It’s not like they’re using all their leave, calling out, and still getting paid.

VA RN again. No, management of this giant, sprawling complex does not care. A demand to show documentation results in a EEOC complaint or union demand letter. A few of those episodes and managers learn to stand down. Much easier to just shift the workload onto the conscientious people who do show up. And so it persists, year after year.

and to the many PPs saying but, but, but more expensive -- yeah, that's why you make good decisions at the front end. Don't buy things you can't afford, be that a overpriced degree, a fourth bathroom in a new build in Frederick or that third kid. THAT is what feels entirely different than prior generations. I cannot imagine my grandparents (b. 1910) signing a mortgage on a dream home and expecting other people to solve their $ problems when things went predictably south due to know high monthly payments.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:40 something year old gen Xer here and I think it’s great that Millennials and gen Zers have made it socially acceptable to take so much time off of work! I’m a bit of a slacker and wish it was ok to do that when I was young. We put so many hours into work to the detriment of the rest of our lives.

Agree, but it’s not great when they take more time off than their managers, who are left picking up their slack. The hardworking among them will not face as much competition in advancing their careers as we did.

They are entitled to use their leave. Period. And if they have a reasonable
and understanding workplace-like mine- that wont affect career progression. But you assume everyone wants the Big Job and Big Title. Not everyone does.

Anonymous wrote:I am a 48 yo father of 2 teenage girls. I somehow found a way to raise both of these girls and work at the same time.

I am 100% tired of seeing people complain about daycare and how they are going to handle going back to the office...GTFOH man up and figure it our somehow my generation found a way to raise their children before remote work....

I guess I am officially the old grumpy GenX guy, but I am done dealing with this mentally weaker generation!!!

Misery loves company is not an effective argument or good policy.
I had to exhaust my paid leave when I had my DD but now feds get some parental leave (+ leave bank) and good for them. It would have made my life so much easier to extend my maternity leave and/or have some fusion for when the baby was sick. I’m pleased others have it better.

Anonymous wrote:40 something year old gen Xer here and I think it’s great that Millennials and gen Zers have made it socially acceptable to take so much time off of work! I’m a bit of a slacker and wish it was ok to do that when I was young. We put so many hours into work to the detriment of the rest of our lives.

Agree, but its not great when they take more time off than their managers, who are left picking up their slack. The hardworking among them will not face as much competition in advancing their careers as we did.

40 something year old gen Xer here and I think it’s great that Millennials and gen Zers have made it socially acceptable to take so much time off of work! I’m a bit of a slacker and wish it was ok to do that when I was young. We put so many hours into work to the detriment of the rest of our lives.