Nine Things I’ve Learned from Millennials at Work

I identify squarely as Gen-X. Even though I’m on the younger side of that era, I was shaped by Cyndi Lauper and Guns’n’Roses, jelly bracelets and leg warmers, the cold war and Reaganomics... I was a grown adult before I ever had an email address.

So when I was in my late twenties and Millennials started invading the workplace, I could have been one of the people throwing their hands up, bemoaning their entitlement, their gall. But I was in awe of them instead.

Here’s just a bit of what I’ve learned.

1. Speak up

   Before millennials came along, there was an understanding that you wouldn’t really speak in a meeting until you had a certain amount of time served and/or rank. Kind of like “kids should be seen and not heard.” Millennials either didn’t know that or didn’t care, and I took some real joy in seeing them disrupt the office blowhard with a well-timed observation. Now, is it important to listen as a newbie, and to have some humility? Yes. But do you also have a right to share your own ideas? Also yes.

2. People shouldn’t treat you like garbage

   What a revelation, huh? In my generation hazing was sort of a given. Respect had to be earned, not by simply being a human, but by enduring months of gentle or not-so-gentle poor treatment by your coworkers. Fun, right? Most of the people entering the workplace these days are used to being treated with respect, and will call out unkind behavior for what it is.

3. Sexual harassment really isn’t ok

   I’m ashamed to say this, but the first time I heard about the Citizen Cider debacle I privately thought… “So? that’s just part of working at a restaurant.” - Gahhh. Horrendous, right? I knew as soon as I thought it that it was a horribly misogynist and classist norm I’d adopted—probably as a sort of Stockholm syndrome response to all the years of harrassment I endured, starting at age 15 as a hostess. But none of that had ever been okay, and young women (and girls) have every right to call sexual harassment out for the disgusting, illegal behavior it is. I was humbled, once again, by the wisdom —and bravery—of the youth.

4. Dressing like yourself is ok

   When i started temping in the late nineties women were still expected to wear dresses and skirts to the office—with pantyhose for crying out loud. Colors were muted, hair was to be neat, and visible tattoos? Maybe if you worked in the warehouse. It was like we all had to conform to this very narrow standard, and it sucked. Millenials helped change this, by just showing up as themselves, and doing their jobs well, despite not wearing the standard issue drabbery.
   
   Now it feels like a power move to show up dressed very clearly as yourself, which is how it should be.

5. All sorts of bodies have value

   if this sounds like all workplaces were ableist, that’s because they were, and many still are. But this also extends to sexism and fat phobia and white supremacy, because the shitty truth is—I came of age at a time when the only “professional” body was a slim white one. Companies would have contests to lose weight, without ever offering wellness perks like gym memberships or healthy food options, and without any regard to the wide range of weights that are perfectly healthy just as they are.
   Millennials don’t play that. They’ve been raised with “body positivity” and are more critical thinkers when it comes to some of the sexist/racist standards we’ve all been held to for far too long.

6. It’s OK to wear a hat

   Not a metaphor. I’m talking about actual head accessories here and boy, was I ready for this one. I love hats; always have, always will. The first time i saw a beanie-clad web designer in a meeting, I was all in. Some of us look better and do our best thinking in hats, okay?

7. It’s OK to be neurodivergent

   Who else spent the first half of life masking non-typical traits? We didn’t have labels like ADD or autism when I was growing up. Shoot—we didn’t even talk about introversion vs extroversion. I was, I surmised, a terribly disorganized and awkward person, and over the years I learned how to hide it.

   As Millennials joined the workforce they were much more aware of their learning and processing styles, and were more upfront about differences because they hadn’t been shamed for them since the first time they spoke. Can you imagine a commercial like Mikey likes it today? Of course not, because now we’d see he’s not just picky—he’s got some sensory stuff going on and that’s okay.

8. Our differences are our strengths

   We Gen Xers may have said this kind of thing but we didn’t mean it.

   Now? Thanks to a generation of millennials speaking up, owning their whole selves and not taking shit, we can see that it’s actually true.

   Being all the same leads to stagnation. Diversity—in background, in communication style, in approach—is what gives us a communal sort of resilience, by giving businesses a more authentically grounded, well-rounded perspective.

   Plus, it’s just more fun.
   

9. The importance of being earnest

   Yes, really. If you’re not Gen X then I’m not sure I can fully explain the blasé, no biggie, ha ha vibe we were encouraged and almost required to perform, first as the children of baby boomers and later as “adults” entering “the workforce.” Taking yourself too seriously was a real bummer for everyone—a stance that, now that I think about it, helped enable all the bad behavior I listed above.

   Millennials, thank you for being comfortable In your own skin, and for being upfront about what you think and feel. Honestly it removes a lot of drama from the workplace (I said what I said, Emilie), and as with most things Millennial, I am here. For. It.

Youth has its blind spots, but that’s part of its charm—looking at the world with fresh eyes, unvarnished by the woes of hard-won experience. I haven’t really had the chance to work with Gen Z yet, and I’m wondering what lessons they’ll bring.