Take This Job and Love It?

This chapter examines the work ethic of the Millennial generation. Workers, especially young workers, have been socialized toward the work ethic in a way that impresses on them the importance of finding the inherent value of work, nearly regardless of the task, and of being committed to it, nearly regardless of the conditions. Indeed, the popular myth of the lazy Millennial is unsupported by facts, figures, and ethnographic data. Data suggest that young workers are not substantially different from workers in previous generations in their outlook toward work. When they are different, though, it is often in ways that defy both media and business consultant stereotypes about the Millennial workforce. But by one measure, at least, Millennials are unique: they tend to believe hard work is more important than the baby boomers do.