I think it was George Bernard Shaw that said that the Lost Generation (born 1883-1900) had the unique disadvantage of being young at a time when elders were revered and old at a time when youth was idolized. [X] are arguably in the same situation, being young when the G.I. (born 1901-1924) were running the show and eventually we will become elders when the Millennial (born 1982-2004) are taking over the game. In between we get the leftovers, as pointed out in this Washington Post article that has been making the rounds on Twitter.
The Deloitte study warns of a “resume’ tsunami” once economic recovery begins, especially among Gen Xers, and notes that many executives were largely unaware of employee complaints unrelated to money.
Such findings don’t surprise Rich Yudhishthu, a 37-year-old Gen Xer who’s a business development consultant from Minneapolis.
“The lack of promotional opportunities has pretty much killed job loyalty within a generation,” he says.
Of course the problem here is that the “recovery” may be a good 10-15 years off, so shining up the resume for Gen X may be pointless. The good news is, as always, we can take it. Just like the Lost Generation before us we are tough survivalists. That’s our gift and our curse.
Tough survivalists sums it up, whether we like it or not. Thanks Dave, keep up the great work
you're not kidding. tough for sure.
With an aching love that I have felt alike and have for you guys, here' is a gift that I would reveal to you of about who we actually are. Whether you would agree or disagree or whether you like it or not we are actually the 'correctors' forever striving for the perfect solution, within from ourselves for us as well outward to others (the world) and especially to our lineage (children). Understand it and live it, research the history of faith and achieve our rightful Peace.
Excellent Post Dave. However, being hardened survivalists is our blessing, not our curse. It is makes us and keeps us leaders despite the flow of popular attention in other directions. We are like the willow. We bend, but we do not break. It may be a bit masochistic of us, but by and large we take the sour and find the sweet. I think history will prove, just as it did with the previous "Lost Generation," that diamonds can only come from intense pressure applied on coal.
You are proof of that yourself.
Keep writing the wonderful and insightful articles into our daily lives.
@Penny – I agree that being survivalists is one of our strengths, and I appreciate the compliment. But just like the Boomer's strength is in idealism, it is also their weakness. We need to confront that \”shadow\” (as Jung would say) before we can really use it to make the world a better place. Generation X's distrust of institutions is exactly what makes it possible for us to help build great ones, but we need to be willing to take on the task for the welfare of all rather than just ourselves.
Thanks for reading!
another thing that killed job loyalty, besides lack of promotional opps, is the fact we came into to the larger corporate workforce (almost uniformally) with a few key lines in our benefits guides. "if your start date was post x-date 1987 (or whatever) you are not eligible for the pension plan." Have fun with your 401k and heres a can opener for the cat food you will eat upon retirement. Oh, and guess what? Your taxes will still pay social security for the boomer POS's that saved their bacon by taking yours.
Signed
Cynical but hoping for a better day.