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Generation Y at Work

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The baby boomers made a lot of babies. And now, they're all grown up — or nearly — and hitting the American workplace in waves. Twenty-somethings with iPods and attitude, ready to take on the world as they see it.

The early line on Generation Y? Ambitious, demanding, questioning everything, self-absorbed, multi-tasking, optimistic, and very-well pierced and tattooed. They change jobs like their parents changed clothes. They bring their own rules.

Some managers don't know what to do with them. Others say they may end up the highest-performing workforce in history.

This hour On Point: how they see it as Generation Y goes to work.

Quotes from the Show:

"In the real world, nobody cares if you got a straight A in the second-year English class." Jason Ryan Dorsey

"I don't want to start from the bottom, and we've been told we don't have to." 21-year old listener

"They're interested in making sure that they invest in every area of their lives." Nadira Hira

"They're gonna do lots of work, they're just not gonna do it the way you'd expect." Nadira Hira

"The problem I have with Gen Ys is that they come to work for their breaks and for their lunches." Listener, Fortune 500 middle manager

"I think the Ys are great. ... It's the boomers who need to get over themselves." Tamara Erickson

Guests:

Nadira Hira, Reporter at Fortune Magazine and author of this week's cover story "Manage us? Puh-leeze ..."

Jason Ryan Dorsey, Speaker, Consultant, and author of "My Reality Check Bounced!: The Twentysomethings Guide to Cashing in on Your Real-World Dreams"

Tamara Erickson, Consultant and Researcher on GEN Y and changing workplace demographics

This program aired on May 22, 2007.

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