Dude, where’s my job?

Consider that this is the first cohort to come of age in a time of institutionalized self-esteem. Beginning in the seventies, programs designed to boost children’s self-esteem were installed in schools and at home, in the form of books and TV shows like Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. Throughout the eighties, according to the research of Jean Twenge, a professor of psychology at San Diego State University, the number of studies published on the benefits of self-esteem programs doubled, and in the nineties, it doubled again. Then came the elimination of competition, harsh red marking pens, and the arrival of books with titles like Celebrate Yourself: Six Steps to Building Your Self-Esteem. “Generation Me’s expectations are highly optimistic,” Twenge wrote in her 2006 book on the narcissistic tendencies of this group. “They expect to go to college, to make lots of money, and perhaps even to be famous.” Unfortunately, there’s a fine line between optimism and confidence, and irrational entitlement.

But it wasn’t just indulgent teachers and coddling parents that formed this generation’s world view. The self-esteem revolution happened to dovetail with a consumer shift toward an ever-greater focus on the individual. Marketers trained their sights on young people more intently than ever before, piggybacking on the self-esteem movement to offer youth heaps of affirmation in the form of a countless array of products—just for them! They realized that parents, flush with credit and disposable income, were inordinately concerned with their kids’ opinions, even when it came to grown-up purchasing decisions (from cars to family vacations). Tweens spend about $2.9 billion a year and influence purchases worth another $20 billion. From the age of eight, Millennials saw themselves reflected everywhere: in ads for tween shampoos, designer fashions, and fragrances. By the time they got to university, credit card companies were handing out application forms along with student orientation packages. The message, as always: if you want it, you should have it.

It only makes sense that the environment in which they were raised would inform what they expected from a job—namely, flexibility, authority, instant respect and continuous affirmation. (This is a generation, after all, in which seven out of 10 rank themselves “above average” in academic ability.) “They’re not going to put up with the ‘paying your dues’ and being in the mailroom for the first three years,” says Rothberg. “In their mind it’s, ‘I graduated. I’ve always succeeded. I’ve always got a trophy for everything I’ve done. All of my friends and everyone I know is above average, so when I go into a place of work, I’m either going to set that place on fire or they’re not good enough for me and I’m out of there.’ ”

But there is a surprising upside to this attitude that may wind up benefiting both the young workers and the companies that employ them. Ironically, the Millennials’ addiction to affirmation may also turn out to be their saving grace. “What is interesting about this generation,” says Max Valiquette, president of Toronto-based youth marketing firm Youthography, “is that a lot of the carrots and perks they’re asking for have nothing to do with money, and almost everything to do with how they work.” Very few of them have had hard experience scrimping to make rent. (In fact, in 2006, 44 per cent of Canadian adults ages 20 to 29 were living with mom and dad). Instead, Dorsey says, the incentives they crave involve self-determination, being recognized for good work, and regular feedback—things that cost no money at all. In other words, to some degree employers may be able to substitute applause for hard currency and still keep young employees perfectly happy, a potential boon in a cash-strapped economy.

For those young workers fortunate enough to find or keep work in the midst of the storm, life is about to provide some eye-opening lessons, and the same might be said for the companies trying to balance their need for young ambitious workers with their immediate need to keep costs down. “Smart companies are going to see this as an unparalleled opportunity to build Gen Y loyalty,” says Dorsey. “I always mention the birthday thing because it’s so simple, but Gen Y really does believe that the most important holiday of the year is their birthday because it’s the one they don’t have to share.” If this turns out to be true, expect to be eating a lot of cake in 2009.