Will ageism towards millennials in the workplace ever end?

Millennials are a hot topic amongst older generations. We are frequently described as self-entitled, privileged, and lazy. People seem to think that all millennials are one in the same. According to most, we take money from our parents, put in as little effort as possible at work, and spend our entire days on our phones. While there are certainly plenty of millennials who act like this, generalizing an entire generation is pretty unfair.

Working with ageists

As a millennial, working in an environment with Older People can be tough. They seem to think that just because someone is young, they are incapable of learning a skill.

I have seen lots of ageism in the years that I have spent in workplaces that include both young and old people.

A study by Chanaz Gargouri and Carla Guaman discusses the feelings employers have towards millennials. They often see Young People as bad candidates for employees since they lack experience and are "hard to train." The study shows that data shows otherwise, but the stereotypes that are casted upon millennials make it hard to find employment.

Respect

Most adults expect to be respected by young people due to the fact that they are older. They seem to think that no matter what kind of person they are, they should be respected because of how long they have been around. This is a big issue for young people, since we are expected to respect our elders while they are not expected to respect us.

Working in the fast food industry showed me just how much older people don't respect young people. Most of us millennials are college students who are thousands of dollars in debt, working for minimum wage in order to get through each day. However, older people seem to think that we are only working to buy nice things, not to make a living.

I've seen a lot of ageism towards young people from both co-workers and customers during the years I worked in fast food and retail. At one job I had, a woman complained about getting less hours than college students who "don't need money."

My boss made it known that her hours were cut because she was not a productive worker, explaining that us college students were doing a much better job.

The woman continued to complain, basically freaking out in front of the entire staff explaining that she needs hours to make a living.

To me, this is the biggest issue with older people's views on millennials. We are seen as just kids who want money to have it — we don't have families so it's assumed that we're not working for anything. Millennials are far from lazy and actually work hard in order to balance schoolwork, pay off our debt, and defy the stereotypes that label us.