I think this article is mostly focusing on only the creative class, but…Gen X has been struggling for most of their careers, to be honest. I think others are looking at it with rose-colored glasses. I entered the work force coming off the early 90s recession, and the economy has been several booms, then big busts, since. ALL of us had to live through that. I know of some Gen Xers - some with kids of their own, even - that had to move back in with their parents after the dot-com bust went boom. People with CS degrees.
We - Gen X - watched as boomers got kicked right in the balls during the 80s downsizing/rightsizing/offshoring/outsourcing and we - those that were paying attention anyway - knew even before entering the workforce, that any kind of employee-employer cultural contract of being loyal and paying your dues and being taken care of and retiring with a gold watch were long, long over. If the boomers weren’t going to have that (and they definitely were not), no way in hell anyone else after is going to, either.
Knowing that gave a lot of us a very, very cynical and frankly, in many cases, almost nihilist view toward work and our future…and the short period of time where those in our generation made an impact, it was usually pretty dark type of impression. Movies like Office Space made for a lighter take on this, but it was also extremely dark when you think about it, and…very true as to the kind of desperate existence that people - supposedly privileged, educated, white collar types - were eking out. That’s not even getting into the Fight Club type of thing…
I think this article is mostly focusing on only the creative class, but…Gen X has been struggling for most of their careers, to be honest. I think others are looking at it with rose-colored glasses. I entered the work force coming off the early 90s recession, and the economy has been several booms, then big busts, since. ALL of us had to live through that. I know of some Gen Xers - some with kids of their own, even - that had to move back in with their parents after the dot-com bust went boom. People with CS degrees.
We - Gen X - watched as boomers got kicked right in the balls during the 80s downsizing/rightsizing/offshoring/outsourcing and we - those that were paying attention anyway - knew even before entering the workforce, that any kind of employee-employer cultural contract of being loyal and paying your dues and being taken care of and retiring with a gold watch were long, long over. If the boomers weren’t going to have that (and they definitely were not), no way in hell anyone else after is going to, either.
Knowing that gave a lot of us a very, very cynical and frankly, in many cases, almost nihilist view toward work and our future…and the short period of time where those in our generation made an impact, it was usually pretty dark type of impression. Movies like Office Space made for a lighter take on this, but it was also extremely dark when you think about it, and…very true as to the kind of desperate existence that people - supposedly privileged, educated, white collar types - were eking out. That’s not even getting into the Fight Club type of thing…