Generation 'Y'?

[young-gun]

So i've just arrived home after a few friday drinks with co-workers, and ended up talking economics with some 'older' guys on site(55+). I commented on the occupy wall st protests, and that if the world was to collapse, it would mostly(not entirely!) be gen y that have to pick up the pieces and pay higher taxes to recover from the indulgence of the baby boomers and all this government debt.

I received comments like, "generation y need to actually be working to pay taxes" and "it scares me that gen y will be supporting my pension" and things of this nature. So i was just curious as to the general opinion of people on this forum towards gen y. have you had some bad experiences in your workplace or business? maybe some good experiences? do you believe we are a lost cause?

Just after some opinions is all

PS i am aware that baby boomers too will pay for their greedy ways in way of depreciating assets and lost wealth on markets around the world(IF the world was to collapse).
i'm the first to admit i'm a victim of greed.

 

[Smurf1976]

Based on people I work with, I'd sum it up as follows:

Boomers: Mostly argumentative and difficult to get along with (which is not always a bad thing...) but are solid workers.

Gen X: Some are very good, but many tend to be overly cynical and negative especially when dealing with problems. Many avoid voicing their opinion. The least likely to take unnecessary and inappropriate risks.

Gen Y: Generally good at dealing with problems and optimistic but some (not all) need a push to maintain productivity. Generally unwilling to heed advice. The least likely to "cheat" and avoid work. Tend to take inappropriate risks.

Who would I employ? To be perfectly honest, age is a long way down the list I think. Much higher up would be to avoid employing smokers. It's not the time they spend smoking that is the problem but that smokers, particularly Gen Y males, tend to have attitude problems in general. Not all of them of course, but there does seem to be an association in my experience and they're best avoided.