Millennials have different job expectations, and that's okay.

Millennials receive a lot of criticism from older generations for being the “entitled” generation. Especially as our generation has entered the workforce, we are cyclically condemned for having high expectations in most facets of our lives, especially pertaining to our careers. In truth, I do believe that millennials have an undeniably different work ethic than our predecessors.  But I don’t understand why we receive a noticeable amount of ridicule and disdain from our elders because of this.

I feel like this article, which focused on a study that showed millennials to prioritize quality of work life over pay, attempted frame these results to be somewhat shocking. I wasn’t surprised by this revelation, but I also spent the first half of my college career studying to be a professional actor with a bunch of millennials. In fact, as I’ve become an adult, I’ve watched many of my peers sustain jobs in their desired fields, and they’re thriving. It’s not difficult to see that their success and happiness can largely be attributed to their passion for what they do and the environment that they work in.

My biggest peeve with criticism of the millennial work ethic, or simple criticism of the generation as a whole, is that the characteristics and ideas we are criticized for were not originated by us. From an early age, we were taught to pursue work that we’re passionate about, that we shouldn’t work just for the money, that we could be whatever makes us happy. Now as adults, the people who told us to set high expectations are the same people who condemn us for doing just that. It’s a frustrating double-standard.