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I’ve had the good fortune to be able to move from blue-collar to white-collar work; I will gross ~13x this year what I did in my last year in the trades, which is an inflation-adjusted increase of 860%. While I’ve adjusted my standard of living upward somewhat (cleaning person, newer cars, many more things falling into the category of “the small stuff”) we haven’t made great lifestyle spending changes. Having had the perspectives of both relative poverty and relative wealth, I am most disturbed by the complete lack of awareness of those less fortunate that is exemplified by turning up one’s nose at a $1000 watch. It screams “I deserve this watch and more,” without any recognition of the immense good fortune to be in a job that pays so well that you can complain about the flavor of expensive gift being offered.
TLDR; not generational, but wealtherational - never having been poor leads to entitlement.
I'm not sure why we should salivate at stupid little perks/benefits companies pretend to offer when we know they walk away with the lion's share of the profits we help produce. It would be fine to do away with pretend benefits/perks and just increase everybody's compensation or not continue to foster a culture of chronically overworking. This has nothing to do with young people or old people, but rather speaks to the raising consciousness of workers as a whole. We come out of a global pandemic and companies are mostly operating as if we didn't all collectively go through an insane period together. Geez.
It is entitlement but if it’s the standard nowadays and competing employers offer better benefits, current employer should match or risk attrition especially in this climate
Why does our generation worry about the word no?
I feel liberated by the questions younger generations feel empowered to ask. I'm soaking in their confidence. I adore how they are living the reality that companies have been taking nearly all the advantages and NOT returning stability or even market value for experts AND refusing to play by old, invalid rules.
It's definitely a generational thing. I can't even imagine complaining about receiving a FREE Apple watch. Man, some people!
Pro
If your employer is giving you something it is not a gift
I think what younger generations value at work is slightly different. Older generations care about being able to pay their bills and stability. Us younger people care about that but more so value work like balance and independence. Perks like these are common and we see right through it as a way to appease to employees, it doesn’t hurt to ask for something you like especially if it will cost the company the same.
Pro
Probably because it doesn’t take a lot for companies to provide these benefits. Depends on skillset & value they bring to the table, if these benefits are goods/average.
I always feel weird when I hear that stuff as well. I can’t tell if I’m just old or the younger folks are entitled. I’m 33 years old and started my first grown up job 11 years ago and some of the benefits I get now weren’t even fathomable when I first started working.
I admit, I have felt the same way.
My first "millennial" experience was a guy who spent the first month of his employment "fine tuning" his work space and software environment rather than learning about the product or getting any actual work done. He complained constantly about the demands of the job and was always the last one in the office and often the first to leave. Our boss had enough when he complained about the 8AM team meetings and then didn't show up to them after being told they were manditory. He lasted 2 months.
That said, I have found him to be the exception and not the rule when it comes to millennials. 75% of the people I work with are under 30 and almost all of them are dedicated and hard working.
I was regularly in the top about 2 years into my sales engineering career, but I was 9 years into my software engineering and systems integration job before that. My last 5 years of that had me training people on what we built or mapping business problems into software prototypes using as much OOB software as possible. Good prep for sales engineering. I am in year 28 of my presales work. Experience makes up for the fact it takes me longer to learn new technology. Googling solves much of that issue. When I started manuals were on paper. No search system.
Am "younger folk". I think it's because we see new tech companies providing so many amenities compared to the more traditional companies.
I agree with your assessment. Many companies are stuck in the past model and the landscape and amenities have changed. Tech has pushed that change and other industries are lagging.
That entitled attitude will fade once they have a mortgage and a little mouth or two to keep fed. I am ALL for WLB, and employee equity, but I'll take a bit of security and a decent wage over "free" lunch and a watch. I'd rather get unvested stock over just about any non-monetary gift/benefit that could be offeres, presuming I can't just get a bigger paycheck.
That said, I've also only worked for two companies in 20+ years, had I gotten accustomed to job-hopping early on, I might be a bit less of a "company man" today.
I think if they could afford mortgages they’d probably not sweat the occasional lunch.
Workers should demand as much as they can given their skillset and market conditions.
I think the example with Apple Watch is irrelevant to the subject. Why does somebody think that Apple Watch is a universal gift which everybody wants to have? What if that employee is engaging in some serious sports where he needs to track his heart rate with a chest monitor like the one coming in a package with Garmin watch? Or what if he needs just an elegant watch with a sleep tracking feature without the need to recharge it daily, as a cheaper Withings watch, which looks gorgeous and doesn't require battery replacement for months? Getting an Apple Watch would be a waste in such cases. Thus, it is not about entitlement.
Cash is one size fits all. Fuck the watches, dog walking service, and catered lunches, and bring on the 💶💵💷💴
At my first job, my boss used to bring me a coffee on some mornings when he saw I didn't have one and he would pay for it out of his own pocket. That was one of the sweetest things. I can see how the difference between now and then can be a little jarring.
We once had someone complain on our internal comms channel that the company wouldn’t pay for his dog walking service on days he was required to go into the office in NYC. He got roasted, it was great.
Paid for my own coffee at my first job and I was still grateful. Whatever you call this, entitlement or first world problems, someone with such attitude won’t find happiness anywhere, even with the full palette of benefits.
At this point, a lot of folks in our generation feel a sense of entitlement when it comes to working PERIOD. "Ugh, I can't believe they're making me work this hard today, who do they think they are?"
They have that same feeling and enjoyment of not having money to travel, buy a house, have children? Work life balance is important but the first few years of working you are developing skills that will last a lifetime. Well worth the effort to get started.
If I don't use Apple products, the watch is useless. They really should have two choices to accommodate if they are going to do a gift like that. That's just common sense.
The catered lunch thing is over the top though.
A comment I haven't seen on here is that: a gift can actually be a burden if you're never going to use it. I don't want a smartwatch in my life and neither do my family or friends, so I'd have to find a responsible way to get rid of an expensive object other than throwing it in the trash. I'd probably give it back to the company—I've done that in the past with other company swag.
To me, the lunch thing is just a matter of total comp. I'd rather have money than food, but I know people who would rather have food than money. Each to their own.
As someone with Celiac disease, I always get shafted with food. Pizza, donuts, sandwiches, cookies....all medically inedible to me and I get the weird looks as my stomach growls around everyone.
Counterpoint: asking for things that other companies, including competitors may be offering as perks is better than quitting and going to work for the place that does have catered lunch 5 days a week.
Also when my boss gave me an Amazon Echo I went to Best Buy and swapped it for a Google Home. Apple Watch guy could probably do the same. And it's not a crazy question. If Apple Watches aren't compatible with his phone (which they aren't if he doesn't have an iPhone, I believe) then your company is spending $400 for something he's just going to re-gift or sell on eBay because it's basically useless.