What is the fastest way to observe survival of the fittest amongst human beings? The changes in each generation over time.

From Generation X to millennials and then to Generation Z, in a sense, demonstrates how each generation has evolved to the new reality or world order. The standard equation of life used to be putting in the requisite hard work and churning out a proportionate amount of pay as a result and hence, a decent standard of living.

This has all changed with the millennials.

Twenty years ago, this generation was titled as the ‘Me Me Me’ generation by the Time magazine. In fact, they were described as “lazy, entitled narcissists who still live with their parents” which gives a sense of deja vu because of the similarities in how Gen Z are described today.

The article goes on to say: “a lot of what counts as typical millennial behavior is how rich kids have always behaved.”

This is particularly interesting given that this generation became a guinea pig whose mistakes some have learned from and some have pitied as they struggled to achieve traditional adult milestones like gainful employment, marriage, home ownership and financial stability.

There’s almost been a mass awakening amongst millennials as well as the younger generations to pursue work-life balance. Phrases like “bare-minimum Monday” or “early-finish Fridays” are trending on social media signaling that money-making is being replaced by another priority

Is it because they were entitled? Or other factors like the double pounding from the 2008 Great Recession and the Coronavirus pandemic. Millennials and Gen Z have the worst inflation-adjusted average salaries and have been dubbed as the unluckiest generations economically. The equation of life as we know it has changed - hard work does not equal financial stability.

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Poor get poorer looking at the rich

Millennials also known as digital natives have suffered from social media through its illusion that peoples’ successes are yours but just always out of grasp. The initial studies about millennials characterized them as a generation that ruthlessly compared itself to its peers.

According to an article by the Harvard Business Review, this stemmed from three reasons: the misrepresentation of success stories on social media, the sharing of stories of hyper-successful millennials and a “fear of missing out” when it comes to career options and striving for potential.

As a result, they have the toxic trio of unrealistic expectations, burnout and low self-esteem.

Unfortunately, the comparison trap set by social media has seeped into personal lives as well - particularly as this generation embraces parenthood.

Questions like “why isn’t he crawling yet?,” pop into conversations along with the need to pose the most perfect pictures to signify the “perfect parents”.

The effects of comparison are also experienced behind the scenes as the digital natives explore intense amount of information. When unqualified individuals offer “expert advice”, trends prop up every now and then, and eventually there is analysis paralysis experienced from the barrage of overwhelming amounts of information.

As such, low self esteem has become a major thread in understanding the millennial.

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COVID

Putting the millennial low self-esteem, constant comparisons and unlimited access to information in an extreme situation like the COVID-19 pandemic may have forced the generation to evolve. It forced them into a period of self reflection - is hard work truly virtue? Or is it actually admirable if it is within limits?

Throughout time, hard work has been elevated as a moral value. But hard work has also morphed into total domination of the workplace, and when one feels like there are no viable results - is it really worth working to the bone?

As economist Gray Kimbrough tells The Washington Post, “The story here is not just that it’s a bad recession, and that it’s hitting young people more, but that it’s hitting people who have already been hit [previously by the 2008 recession].”

Perhaps this why organizations experienced “quiet quitting” and why till today, one of the number one Human Resource issues is the return to work dilemma. In a recent Wall Street Journal/NORC survey said that only 36% of the respondents believe that hard work will get you to your achievements or the American Dream.

There’s almost been a mass awakening amongst millennials as well as the younger generations to pursue work-life balance. Phrases like “bare-minimum Monday” or “early-finish Fridays” are trending on social media signaling that money-making is being replaced by another priority.

Antisocial activists

Millennials are claimed to be one of the loneliest generations - less face-to-face interactions and generally less social. In 2007, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman labeled the millennials as “Generation Q”, for Quiet.

Interestingly, there is a contradictory claim that they may be social geniuses because they are always connected to social networks. Being the most educated generation and along with Gen Z, being the most diverse, millennials stand out for their activism which has also influenced the younger folk. Take any of the recent barrage of political movements and you will find millennials at the fore along with the younger generations.

Campaign Manager Michaela Bethune of DoSomething.org tells the Washington Post millennials are no longer limited to traditional forms of civic engagement. Furthermore, the hyper-connectivity online can sometimes be a useful source of information.

Talking about a recent political issue, an Instagram influencer says “we are not like our earlier generations. The divide and conquer strategy may have worked on earlier generations but because of social media we see everything and it does not work on us.”

So maybe Millennial are the socially awkward activists? There are still all of questions about them -we can’t still seem to pin them down. Are they aging faster in comparison to others or are they actually aging slower? Are they going to die earlier or are they healthier?

It is time to stop with the labels especially as the new generations emerge. The values have changed and maybe it just a battle of survival.

The article does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Business Recorder or its owners