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This blog post “Millennials vs Gen X in the Workplace” contains a sponsored link from Ferratum, marked with *. All opinions are my own.
For some reason, there seems to be a lot of misinformation and disagreement about who exactly is considered a millennial. Some people use it as a general term for ‘young people’, which is not true!
Not sure what generation you are? I got you:
Were you born between the 1960s and 1980? If so, you’re Generation X.
If you were born between approx 1980 and 2000, you’re Generation Y, AKA a millennial. snap!
and if you’re a young lad or lass born after 2000, you’re Generation Z.
These are rough boundaries! Some consider the definition of millennials as simply those who reached adulthood early in the 21st century, and some consider mid-90’s as the boundary between Generation Y and Z.
Now we’ve got that part out of the way, I’ve been reading a study from Ferratum called ‘The Best Version of You – Millennials at Work’*, in comparison with Generation X.
Here are some statistics from the study about Millennials vs Gen X in the workplace that stood out to me, and some general thoughts…
“3 in 5 millennials want to start their own business”
I definitely think that aspiring to be self-employed is quite common among millennials. With the rise of social media influencers, bloggers and YouTubers aiming for a personality-based career, it isn’t too shocking to find that 3 in 5 want to start their own business.
I love how the internet has enabled so many talented artists, musicians, writers, photographers, and other creatives to work for themselves!
Personally, I don’t think I’d have the confidence to do this, I like the security of knowing how much money I’ll be paid each month.
“69% of millennials wish they had more access to training at work”
I can definitely understand this. I haven’t had a first-hand experience with this, but I do know a few graduates that find themselves frustrated with the lack of progression and training at their new jobs. Most people love to learn, give us training!
“Millennials are twice as likely to be willing to work weekends in a second job compared to Gen X”
Yes, I’ve done this. With the costs of living and property rising, and zero-hour contracts, I know many millennials with multiple jobs.
One of my closest friends has a masters degree, but he works three jobs at the moment to get by.
So much for the stereotype that millennials are lazy, right?
In addition to this, 47% of millennials in the study felt that they were underpaid.
“71% of millennials would consider a career switch just to gain access to better opportunities to develop themselves.”
To me, this is more of an age-related situation rather than generational.
As I’m young and will be fresh out of a masters degree this year, I would definitely consider switching careers for development opportunities.
Of course, development and progression are important throughout life, but I’d probably be less likely to change careers if I’d spent years in a certain field with a comfortable salary etc.
“30% of Gen X are unwilling to take the risk of setting up their own business with ‘fear of failure’ as the main reason.”
As I mentioned earlier, this would totally be me! … but I’m a millennial. I totally get this, it’s all about staying in the comfort zone.
“40% of millennials would consider borrowing money for their education.”
100% this. Tuition fees are honestly extortionate, not to mention the cost of university halls and trying to survive while spending 5 days a week at uni.
We borrow so much money from the government as student finance, some of us are lucky enough to get grants too, but the majority is loaned.
For masters degrees, you can only borrow the amount to cover tuition, so you’ll need to save up funds or work to stay alive while studying. I’m taking my MA part-time while working 30 hours a week, and even then I had to get a career development loan from the co-operative bank!
Are you a working Millennial or Gen X?
I’d love to know your thoughts on these statistics.
Read the full statistics about Millennials vs Gen X in the Workplace.*
All the best,
