As millennials begin to turn 40 in 2021, CNBC Make It has launched Middle-Aged Millennials, a series exploring how the oldest members of this generation have grown into adulthood amidst the backdrop of the Great Recession and the Covid-19 pandemic, student loans, stagnant wages and rising costs of living.
Millennials have gotten a bad rap since they started entering the workforce. They have been stereotyped as lazy and entitled employees who will trade company loyalty for the ability to leapfrog into a management position they haven’t earned; they want to work for a values-driven company with a casual dress code.
But the reality is that many millennials went to college at a time when education costs soared and graduated into a financial recession that gave them limited career opportunities to pay off their student loans, let alone save for other financial milestones.
Then, companies began to eliminate middle management jobs — the ones millennials were working toward — as the job market tanked during the financial crisis. Senior leaders who weren’t pushed out of work delayed their retirement. At the very top, CEOs got older, stayed longer and got a lot richer.
Now, millennials are the largest generation in the workforce, and the oldest among them turn 40 this year. This comes as the number of management roles held by people younger than 45 is about the same as for those above that age, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
But many millennials are now rethinking whether climbing the corporate ladder is really worth it after spending their early careers burning out on limited opportunities.
The responsibilities of managing aren’t always equal to the benefits
Though millennials have been stuck with the reputation of being job-hoppers, the reality is that young workers in their late teens into their early 20s are just generally more likely to try out more jobs as they figure out their careers. This has been true of young workers from any generation — including baby boomers, who have been stereotyped as hard-working loyalists. What’s different for millennials may be how it has become the top strategy to actually get ahead in their careers.
Job-hopping for the sake of advancement is something Jayde Young, 33, knows well. The marketing executive worked for major corporations in New York City including Viacom, MGM and New York Magazine, spending about a year or two at each before moving to a different employer.
Young describes her experiences, and the ones she’s heard from countless peers, in this way: “You’ll work really hard and they’ll enjoy your efforts, but when it comes time to discuss a promotion, they don’t want to promote you unless they see you’re being scouted by another company.”
“What determines promotion rates is mainly company growth rates,” Wharton School researcher and management professor Peter Cappelli says. Because business growth has been slow in the last 20 years, it’s likely promotions have taken longer, he says.
At the same time, employers have redirected their attention to recruiting. “Companies are filling a hugely disproportionate share of vacancies from the outside” to stay competitive, Cappelli says. “As it got easier to hire from outside, opportunities to develop internally began to decline.”
Young has spent the last four years in a managerial role but doesn’t relish the idea of being anyone’s boss.
“I think it just naturally happened, and I like being challenged,” Young says. “Being a manager, it’s OK. But it affords me nothing. I don’t have any real additional perks that my direct reports don’t have. My salary is a little higher, fine, but I have to work a lot longer. Honestly, the title is all fluff at the end of the day.”
