Are Millennials Really as Lazy as Many Believe? [Infographic]

Are Millennials Really as Lazy as Many Believe? [Infographic]

Created: 21 November, 2013
Last update: 14 October, 2022
It is not uncommon to hear the words “entitled,” “selfish,” and “lazy” to describe Generation Y, or as they are colloquially known -- millennials. Is this a fair assumption to make or do previous generations have more in common with young adults than they think?

According to Michigan State University, an examination of high school seniors in the United States from 1976-2006 reveals that when it comes to qualities like individualism and egoism, there hasn’t been much change at all.

The stereotype surrounding millennials likely comes from the fact that, according to MTV, 71 percent of young adults believe they are too talented to sit in a cubicle or punch a clock. However, their perspective of the workforce is vastly different from that of previous generations.

Generation Y is the most interconnected generation in the workforce today. In fact, 46 percent of millennials want to start their own business within 5 years.

In the last decade, millennials have not only witnessed two wars, the greatest recession since the Great Depression, a major housing bust, and currently live in one of the slowest economic recoveries, but they have seen the rise of the young entrepreneur. They’ve watched Google, Facebook, Uber, and many other companies reshape entire industries.

As conservative commentator S.E. Cupp remarked in a recent editorial in the New York Daily News:

The message millennials have learned over the past decade is that you have to make things happen for yourself. And they are.

The following infographic was created by OnlineSchools.com.

millennial -infographic

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About the Author

Shawn M Griffiths

Shawn is the Election Reform Editor for IVN.us. He studied history and philosophy at the University of North Texas, and joined the IVN team in 2012. He has several years of experience covering the broad scope of political and election reform efforts across the country, and has an extensive knowledge of the movement at large. A native Texan, he now lives in San Diego, California.