I'm not complaining about my current situation. I'm
not depressed, I'm not having an early-life crisis, and I
don't feel entitled, but you should understand that being young
isn't what it used to be.
I'm a 27-year-old college graduate with a stable career
job (thanks, Entrepreneur). In the old days, even 10 years
ago, I would be set. I'd buy a house, chat about my kitchen
remodel, throw barbecues, marry my longtime girlfriend, Jessica,
and enjoy. That life is no longer possible.
Only with financial help from Jessica am I able to afford
rent at my one-bedroom apartment. My friends, all college
graduates, either live with others or bought houses with help from
their parents. I'll never be able to afford a house--at least
not within 500 miles of my job. The reality of today's urban
twentysomethings is sad--it means being college-educated,
career-supported . . . and limited to just one bedroom.
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--Steve Cooper
Perhaps you've noticed the general angst and unrest among
the twentysomethings in your business. You may wonder why they
don't just get their acts together and grow up. But the angst
is more fact-based than people realize. As a 28-year-old, I confess
to being anxious about finding my way to middle-class adulthood
when financial self-sufficiency, marriage, children and
homeownership seem hopelessly out of reach. Graduating from college
with a mountain of debt and realizing that entry-level salaries
aren't enough to pay it off and still afford rent on our own
apartments, we, as a generation, are living with parents or
roommates far longer than we thought we'd have to. We're
waiting until our 30s to marry and have children. We move from job
to job looking for meaning. We're in flux-we're going
through a "quarterlife crisis." It's different from a
midlife crisis, notes Catherine Stocker, co-author and co-founder
with Abby Wilner of The Quarterlifer's Companion and Quarterlifecrisis.com. Midlife crises usually arise
from the realization that one's options are shrinking, says
Stocker, "whereas when people hit their quarterlife crises,
they tend to be paralyzed by all the options they have to choose
from."
Sure, people in earlier generations had to face similar
transitions, but their prospects were different. "In our
parents' and grandparents' generations, you were more
likely to get out of school, land a job and feel secure you would
have that job until you retired," says Stocker. "You
weren't necessarily laid off after 18 months, having to start
from scratch."
Not only do we feel less secure in our jobs, but even when we do
land them, there seem to be fewer opportunities for advancement.
"It's hard to say which came first-job-hopping or lack of
loyalty from employers--but there aren't many mentorship
programs anymore. There aren't any guarantees you'll
advance within a company," says Wilner, also co-author of
The Quarterlife Crisis: The Unique Challenges of Life in Your
Twenties.
We're being squeezed on all fronts by student loans, an
uncertain job market and insane housing costs. About 74 percent of
twentysomethings surveyed by Quarterlifecrisis.com graduated
college with debt, and 44 percent feel they'll never be able to
pursue their goals because of debt. And even if the housing bubble
bursts, home prices still might not be within reach for the average
twentysomething, says Wilner.
Why should you care? Because this generation of twentysomethings
represents your employees, your customers, the future of business
and the future of the economy. What quarterlifers are searching
for, according to Stocker and Wilner, is meaning and direction. As
an employer, you could harness that desire, energy and enthusiasm
by providing feedback, mentoring and sound templates for
advancement to your quarterlifer employees.
It's hard to say how we will overcome this uncertainty. Will
we turn away from an insecure job market and start our own
companies? "I wouldn't be surprised if you saw more
entrepreneurship from twentysomethings," says Stocker.
Or perhaps, surmises Wilner, since we're already hitting our
existential crises, we won't have full-blown midlife crises.
"I doubt many of us will miss the uncertainty and instability
of our 20s," she says.
So yes, we twentysomethings are questioning. Yes, we often feel
fear about the future. But we also have great passion, great
energy, great enthusiasm and the desire to make our mark.
"[Quarterlifers] don't want to wallow in their anxiety.
They want specific, concrete answers. They want help and guidance
to get through their 20s and be more productive and
successful," says Stocker. "They're not just
expecting something to fall in their laps."
A generation of whiners? Hardly.