Cape Town - Generation Y is a collective term for those born between 1980 and 2000.
People born during this period have been derided as self-entitled, flippant and non-committal. With such non-complimentary adjectives to describe this generation, many millennials (Generation Y) tend to look back at their parents' era and wonder what the differences are.
We're way more than “tech-savvy”
This is another generalisation, but our parents are dependent on getting their technology lessons from us, whether it is programming the microwave clock or adding a contact into their cellphone. We're the first generation to grow up with digital technology around us. Some would go as far to say that we're not tech-savvy, but rather tech-dependent.
Processing kings
For Generation Y, one screen is never enough. Older people say we're an egocentric bunch, with our selfies and constant updates on social media. But this multi-tasking and constant need for instant gratification means that our generation is always processing some sort of content.
Millennials digest huge amounts of information, but whether most of this data is useful is up for debate. Gen Y has absorbed more information than any other generation that has ever walked the planet, due to our constant access to the world-wide-web.
Rental masters
Millennials entered a job market when the entire economic world collapsed - around the 2008/2009 credit crunch. This has meant that many struggled to find a footing in the job market. This inability to find a job meant that the generation has also been unfairly dubbed the “most likely to return home to their parents”.
A resultant lack of fixed income has meant that this generation is late to purchasing homes and cars. In turn, this has made them rental junkies. Rental agreements are flexible and don't only apply to housing, but also to electronics and appliances through companies like Teljoy, which has seen a surge in younger rental customers as a result.
Rent-to-own agreements on a wide range of items such as appliances and furniture to deck out their rented flat, or the much desired gadgets such as laptops, tablets, and smart TVs are particularly popular.
After all, millennials know that when you're hit with a “credit crunch”, bad things happen, like moving back in with your parents… who had it easier.
We explore our options
The description of fickle, unmotivated and non-committal has been foisted upon millennials, perhaps because it seems that they'll seldom stay with a job for more than two or three years.
But Gen Y is all about experiences and lifestyle, rather than actually investing in a bond or getting locked into a job. Our parents were part of an era that stuck with a career through thick and thin, even if it broke them. The new generation knows that if a job is affecting their personal life, it's time to dump it and move on to the next adventure. Millennials are better at finding what they want and chasing it down, because they're more adventurous than their parents were.
More understanding and caring
As a group, Gen Y is regarded as socially conscious and willing to help. Whether it is signing up to a cause, or understanding previously disadvantaged individuals, millennials care more for causes than profits, or products. We may not always seem like we're as understanding as we'd like to believe (web comment sections have absolutely #nochill). But previous generations were never as concerned about social, and public issues as a group. We're better at caring about these things than our parents ever were.
* Andrew Macfarlane works for PR company Irvine Bartlett