Well 20-40 somethings, we've finally gotten our label -- The entitlement generational. Sounds flattering doesn't it? Well here's how it's describe in an AP story that was released this weekend.

Now, deserved or not, this latest generation is being pegged, too - as one with shockingly high expectations for salary, job flexibility and duties but little willingness to take on grunt work or remain loyal to a company.

"We're seeing an epidemic of people who are having a hard time making the transition to work - kids who had too much success early in life and who've become accustomed to instant gratification," says Dr. Mel Levine, a pediatrics professor at the University of North Carolina Medical School and author of a book on the topic called "Ready or Not, Here Life Comes."

The first part of this is especially true in my business. For the most part the readers of this blog are professionals. I have a few journalists here, Mudge is some sort of marketing savant, Cameron is in law school, Brent is a professor, Fire is some tech guy, Dave is an IT freak.

So we're all in good careers and many of our careers don't lend themselves to company loyalty. If Brent is offered more money and tenure at another school, he'll take that job. I'm currently on a jobhunt for a larger paper, Dave almost moved to Florida for job purposes. I think the blame is going to the wrong place, the market today is oversaturated and a lot more competitive so everyone's trying to continue to move up rather than stay comfortable in one place until those employers move you out for someone younger and cheaper.

And let's not be mistaken, situations like Enron are on our minds. Many of those guys invested years and funds into a company that turned out to be unstable. We're pretty hellbent on not becoming unemployed and broke in our early 40s.

We're also natural entrepreneurs. The internet has given many of us this belief that we're just a few steps away from big-time salaries. Hell look at the Gawker empire. Nick Denton just has 13 blogs run by pretty compotent people and he sells a shitload of advertising for them. Combine that with a limited overhead and you have a money-making venture. That's the mark of this generation.

It's easy to write this group off as the selfish group who wants the house without the mortgage, but it not true. We're just better at the corporate game. They were a time when the worker stuck with his job despite being underpaid because it was a sense of pride. Not anymore, many of us want our market value and sometimes it takes hopping from place to place to get it.

Enjoy the story, it's a good read.


Working With The Entitlement Generation [AP]