Vinnea Flowers and Gillian Schlenner

Christine Soring

Persuasive Essay

21 November 2016

Work Ethic
Dear Ms. Soring,

The world has seen hundreds of revolutions and advancements, wars have been waged

since man could fight, and people strive to make their lives easier every day. However, for many

the problem no longer lies in waged war, but lies in the work ethic of the younger generation.

Each generation has their own unique characteristics that sets them apart from their parents and

future children. Millennials are the up and coming generations in the workforce and company

owners are not happy. The current generation that has done their time and is sitting in big offices

are looking down upon millennials and the work ethic people seem to associate with them.

People claim that they have no work ethic, they are lazy and want everything handed to them.

While this is true for a small portion of the generation, the vast majority is willing to put in the

time and effort in order to succeed. The thing about memory is that the bad sticks out and is

easier to remember than the good. Therefore people will complain about the select few who

dont work hard but forget about the hundred others who put in extra hours. The absence of a

work ethic in millennials has given them a bad reputation that older people in the workforce look

down on because they believe them to be lazy yet only a select few truly dont have a positive

work ethic.
 Generation X (1960s-1970s) and Generation Y (1980s-1990s) are convinced that

Millennials lack a strong work ethic. Anastasia, a writer for cleverness, defined work ethic as a

value based on hard work and diligence (Anastasia). With time constantly changing and

technology advancing, the younger generation labors differently. Constantly millennials feel like

they are being judged. In a survey that was conducted by Asghar, he found out that 66% of

millennials feel misunderstood by their elders(Asghar). From personal experience, millennials

work differently than generation X because of school and other activities they are involved in.

Most millennials are working while they are in school and that could be college or high school.

Its much harder for them to concentrate on a task they are asked to perform when they have

other focuses outside of work, but with all being said a lot of co workers feel its beneficial to

have millenials at a workplace. In the same survey most respondents (61%) say millennials are

easy to relate to (Asghar).

Many generations before the millennials believe that we lack a strong work ethic due to

their previous employment history with us. In the article, Study: Millennials' Work Ethic Is In

The Eye Of The Beholder by Asghar, multiple surveys were performed to see how Millennials

co worker feel about working with them. In the same article 74% of non-millennials believe they

have as good a work ethic as that of older generations, but about two-thirds of employers (63%

percent of business decision makers and 68% of recruiters) say their organizations struggle to

manage millennials (Asghar.). From personal experience, older generations judge us because we

do things differently. Instead of searching through files for something we use our phones or we

do things quicker. School or other activities affect our focus because we have a lot on our plate,

but many millennials including me are willing to pay their dues. 55% of millennials say
theyre willing to pay their dues (Asghar). Judging all millennials base off one personal

experience is pure ignorance.

Although many millennials have a work ethic there still remains the few that

dont, therefore giving the rest of the generation a bad reputation. Stefanie, from the Huffington

Post wrote about how she had to work a bartending job after college because she couldnt find a

job for her degree in english. Instead of complaining and staying home she dealt with it and

served drinks to the very people she went to school with. She continued to work while searching

for a better job. Trust me when I say, there are far more embarrassing things in life than

working at a restaurant, washing dishes or serving burgers at a fast food window (Williams).

By dealing the cards she was dealt, she slowly made her way up the workforce ladder and now

makes a good income working a job she was meant to do. But you are a young, white,

English-speaking woman with a degree and a family who I would assume is helping you out at

the moment. And you are asking for handouts from strangers while you sit on your ass looking

for cushy jobs you are not entitled to while you complain about the establishment, probably from

a nice laptop (Williams). This is the outlook on life some millennials have. They dont want to

do the dirty work in order to have a good job. So what happened to make them this lazy? Some

people speculate that millennials were handed almost everything throughout their lives and now

that they need to work, they dont know how.

Perhaps it is the self entitlement that is always brought up during this topic. One website

describes millennials as needy, entitled, and self centered. Graves wrote that instead of being

confident about their work, they need to seek out confirmation that what they are doing is

correct, or good enough. Members of Gen-Y like to have their work assessed and seek
recognition for their contributions (Graves). People are growing up in an era where everything

is graded. Nothing they do goes unnoticed, especially with the development of technology.

Additionally, Generation Y is entitled. They believe everything they do deserves praise and a

reward (Graves). They will only do the bare minimum and expect a raise or promotion if they do

one thing that wasnt asked of them. Lastly, the amount of selfishness and self centered people

entering the workforce is overwhelming. Everything they do needs to be blogged or

instagrammed. Social media hinders a persons work and millennials let technology take over at

work. They constantly go on their phones and disregard work. Millennials tend to lack work

ethic and let other, less important ideals, take over.

There are many disputes that people will have regarding whether or not Millennials have

a strong work ethic. Many people agree and disagree that us young people are deprived of the

essential skills needed to be successful in a workplace. Based off of personal experience, I

understand where both views are coming from. When I started working at Chuck E Cheese, I

was very impelled to work. I went to work nonstop and barely called off. As time went on and I

overwhelmed with school work. My work ethic changed drastically. I started to call off and

change my work schedule because I simply could not handle it. Work ethic depends on a

persons motive and their outside life. Work and whatever else they are involved in can become

to much to handle and cause a lot of stress. It all depends on the employee youre hiring. An

interview and work experience should determine whether or not a person has a good work ethic

not a generation or ones mistake.

 Work Cited
Anastasia. "Work Ethic Definition & Elements of a Strong Work Ethic." Cleverism. N.p., 19 Mar.
2016. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.

Asghar ,, Rob. "Study: Millennials' Work Ethic Is In The Eye Of The Beholder." Forbes.
Forbes Magazine, 29 Jan. 2014. Web. 14 Nov. 2016.

Graves, Jada A. "Millennial Worker: Entitled, Needy, Self-Centered?" Money.usnews.com.

N.p., 27 June 2012. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.

Williams, Stefanie. "The Problem With Millennials and Work Ethic." The Huffington Post.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, 26 Feb. 2016. Web. 15 Nov. 2016.