They may have a bad reputation to you, but not to many of us. Our CEO is 35, hired at 29. Our COO is 30, hired at 24. Our CIO is 30, hired at 24. For another entity, our CEO and founder is 20, started the business right after turning 19.
Overall at least 60% of all our managers are Millennials. My wife is only 3 years outside being a Millennial. Oh and next year, Millennials will surpass Baby Boomers in number.
As to boat ownership, they're primarily willing to boat with us, except the CEO does own a boat and they'll typically go out in her boat when we're off cruising. However, she bought a boat so the others didn't feel a need even though they love boating.
This 43 year old is happy that the media, advertisers, and virtually no one cares about Generation X. Talk about ignored! Yes, we are the ones in many leadership positions now... quietly getting stuff done and keeping things moving while the boomers and millennials throw mud at each other. I remember when Generation X was called the "slacker" generation... nothing changes.
I absolutely hate generational debates. Making broad and ignorant characterizations about millions of people based on when they were born is just silly (advertisers love it though).
Back to boating... The numbers are quite clear that the middle class has eroded. I am amazed that my parents were able to save while owning two cars, a boat, and a house (they also had pensions and two week annual vacations without interruption from cell phones). Life was indeed different then. As a child, I certainly remember that boating was far different--many more younger, middle class people cruised the waterways it seems. Perhaps boating mirrors what has happened to the middle class--lots of small boats, many big obnoxious yachts, and few in between.
BandB,
You're very fortunate with younger folks and you must pick the best of the best and have superb training.
Yes, Millennials have a reputation, and i'll stand by that. And we all fit into a generation that has a reputation. Doesn't mean that all are good or bad or right or wrong. It's the way they are.
True, I'd not hire a millennial, but in past years I wouldn't hire any younger that 30ish person unless they came with skills and were trained. I didn't have to ability to train someone from scratch in my businesses.
Don't do much day to day stuff in business, but still involved. We do a lot of trade work in the house business (rental, rehab, buy and sell), and I can't tell you the last time I saw anyone on the job less than 35. They are all elsewhere playing on their IPhones. I've got one kid that we hire that's prob 35 and he works pretty hard. He's the exception.
And how are the millennials in your home? Its always best to learn first hand about things that you are concerned about.
Am millenial. Own house. Have owned boats. Have been financially independent since graduating college, which I also paid for/am still paying for.
You can really see some of this if you look at yacht clubs. Some are failing because they have not figured out how to attract the younger crowd. For others the demographic is changing within the club. Most of us in the baby boomer have bigger boats and either covered slips or boat houses. The younger crowd have wake or ski boats or pontoon party boats. I saw this with the Clover Island Yacht Club in Kennwick WA. It was amazing to see. Fun to watch.
don't have any millennials in my home(s).
According to the Pew research group I’m part of the “ Silent Age Group “ ( 73-90) so I have no comment.
Actually "the greatest generation" was the one before that.Silent Age Group = The Greatest Generation.
This is the big generational change: once you could go to college on scholarships and grants and graduate with a degree. Now those forms of aid are insufficient and students graduate with a degree and tens of thousands of $’s in debt. It’s hard to buy a boat when you have student loans to pay off and this is not the way it was 20 or 30 years ago.
I am pretty sure that anyone who lived through 2007/2009 knows what a real downturn and hard times are like. If your reference point for hard times is 1929/1935 then you are right: most who remember those days are dead and thus no longer understand.BandB,
You're totally right... cost of education is ridiculously high... and gone up WAY more than the cost of living.
Just like most folks, the Millennials for the most part, just don't have a lot of money and it's been harder to get. Wages haven't kept up with costs, and things like college, health care and housing have skyrocketed. And only in the past few years since the change of administration have unemployment rates gone down, so even finding a job, let alone a good one, was not easy.
Couple the above with a lot of folks just don't want to work, want the best of everything but don't want to own this. Makes a combination of fewer boat sales to them.
And even though they've had some challenges, very few understand what a real downturn and hard times are like.
I am pretty sure that anyone who lived through 2007/2009 knows what a real downturn and hard times are like. If your reference point for hard times is 1929/1935 then you are right: most who remember those days are dead and thus no longer understand.
Actually "the greatest generation" was the one before that.
Same here. All four out of the house at 18 and fully self-supporting and successful.You got any actual facts to back that up? My kids are millenials and neither they or anyone they know fall into that classification. Same with the kids of all our friends of our generation.
If your comment includes the construction industry - nearly all of those skilled trades there have been taken by illegals---especially in housing. In NYC area even the unionized skilled construction workers are illegals. I read an article recently that the entire Reinforcing workers have been taken over by illegals from the Dominguan Republic and that the few American workers left have been advised by their bosses (who are illegals) that they must learn Spanish or they will not be sent to jobs.
The first thing they should teach is that going $150K+ into debt to get a job that pays $20K a year is not smart math.
These are the numbers for tax year 2017 at the ssa.gov (Social Security Administration ) website:
https://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/netcomp.cgi?year=2017
It shows roughly half of the people have earnings. That chart is not real easy to find and I have never heard it mentioned in the propaganda services.
Here is a take on what it cost to live a self-sufficient lifestyle in 2017:
https://pj.news.chass.ncsu.edu/2017/07/31/how-much-is-enough-the-self-sufficiency-standard-calculates-the-true-cost-of-meeting-basic-needs/
Some of the problem with college debt has to do with the majors selected by some students. Someone going to an Ivy League school for many years to get a Master's or Doctorate in Medieval English Literature may be following their bliss, but the return on that investment is going to be a long time coming. Students selecting areas of study really should do their due diligence before they start to make sure that the expected career earnings of their desired course of study is worth the cost of the education required to enter that career.
The first thing they should teach is that going $150K+ into debt to get a job that pays $20K a year is not smart math.
Only about a fifth of the people can afford a self-sufficient lifestyle and Millennials are a fraction of that.
Here's this post again: