Millennials want a work-life balance

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/millennials-want-a-work-life-balance-their-bosses-just-dont-get-why/2015/05/05/1859369e-f376-11e4-84a6-6d7c67c50db0_story.html?wprss=rss_AllWPStoriesandBlogs&tid=sm_fb

by aoro • 11 years ago

48 47 11 years ago

washingtonpost.com

MichaelCrawford6• 11 years ago

I wouldn't regard myself as a "young American" as I have grey hair now.

But I am considering emigrating to Europe. I've lived in Italy and in France; I'd like to go back someday.

http://www.warplife.com/mdc/resume/ if you have a job for me there.

Germany would be cool too, I studied German in high school.

chrisper4• 11 years ago

Do you think there are enough tech jobs in Europe? Because I am from Europe, but studying in the US. Considering going back after I am done here, but many people say the tech scene here is a lot better.

MichaelCrawford6• 11 years ago

"better" here in the sense that there are more startups in the US. I'm not so sure there are more openings in the US; my sense is that Europe has just as many well-established companies.

It is uncommon for startups to succeed.

_delirium• 11 years ago

Can only speak for Scandinavia, but there is plenty of technology work available, for both locals and anyone who speaks fluent English (it's a plus, but not necessary, to also speak a Scandinavian language). True both at "tech companies" and in many, many places in other parts of industry. For example in Denmark, Maersk (a global shipping/logistics company) hires large numbers of technologists, ranging from straightforward programming jobs, to data-science / operations research / mathematical modeling type roles. They are perhaps uniquely easy for foreigners to work for as well, because they have a workplace language policy that comes close to "English-only" (with so many global offices they really, really do not want anything in Danish, not even email chains, out of fear that it will slow down inter-office communication).

The finance industry is another traditional sector that's frequently hiring in tech. The jobs there pay well and are good for work/life balance (no overtime, not much stress), but have a reputation of being staid and boring. You might even have to wear a suit to work (I have seen this explicitly mentioned in job postings). They also tend to require at least a bachelor's degree, and look positively on an MSc.

There is a ton of freelance work as well; lots of companies, government agencies, etc. seem to be regularly in need of someone to build an app, redesign a website, build a "serious game" / "training game", analyze some data, etc., and some are even willing to pay well for it. The freelance gigs are harder for foreigners to find, though, unless they speak the language and have developed a good local network.

What there is generally less of is: 1) salaries in the $150k+ range; and 2) venture capital. But there are plenty of good normal jobs, and a small mostly-bootstrapped startup scene.

sandstrom2• 11 years ago

There is a huge shortage in the nordic countries. Quite a lot of people move here (1/4 or more in some companies are from abroad). If you speak good english you'll get by easily.

There is a social benefit to learning the local language, but not necessary for getting hired (i.e. no need to know the language in advance).

I think northern European countries are doing pretty well, but the southern ones get most of the headlines, because they are in trouble. I.e. as long as you move to a well-functioning, growing country the outlook is great.

Red_Tarsius• 11 years ago

I'm a 22yo Italian. I will move to the West Coast as soon as I can.

Healthcare and university aside, I don't understand the appeal of Italy. The air you breath here is filled with cynicism and hopelessness. The state is not business friendly. You can find history, good weather and nature in other places.

The deep south has been destroyed by mafia's garbage management. Please, read USA army's findings on Naples. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/30/world/europe/beneath-south...

MichaelCrawford6• 11 years ago

I have many fond memories of living in Formia while my father served on the USS Springfield in Gaeta. I've been to Naples many times.

I was but six years old then; it was not until many years after we returned, that my father explained the widespread corruption to me.

What I remember are beautiful young women who would toss chocolate soccer balls to me, from their apartment balconies.

s73v3r2• 11 years ago

"The state is not business friendly"

90% of times when people say this, they mean that business is not allowed to run roughshod over anything it wants.

dang2• 11 years ago

Please don't editorialize titles when submitting stories to HN. (Submitted title was "40% of young Americans considering emigrating due to work-life balance concerns".)

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

taco_emoji• 11 years ago

I don't see how quoting a statistic from the article is "editorializing"...

dang2• 11 years ago

By editorializing we mean putting your own spin on the article or framing it a particular way for the reader. Cherry-picking one detail and making that the title is not only editorializing in this sense, it may be the most powerful form of it. If you want to say what you think is important about an article, the place to do that is in the comments, so your view is on a level playing field with everyone else's. On HN, being the one to submit an article doesn't confer any special rights to frame or interpret it for the audience.

jonawesomegreen• 11 years ago

Doesn't everyone want work-life balance? I don't think this is something restricted to millennials.

derefr• 11 years ago

No; workaholics are plentiful, especially among startup founders. Some people, when asked what they would do with an extra ten non-burnt-out hours in the day, truly respond "get another ten hours of work done!"

toomuchtodo6• 11 years ago

Which is a fine attitude to have, as long as you don't impose it on others and work regulations don't cater to that choice.

We should not all be slaves for the minority of workaholics. I don't mind that you hustle, I'd rather have a beer at the beach with my wife, work 4 days a week, and lead a more simple life.

"The days are long but the years are short."

cgag• 11 years ago

Founders don't count as workers in my mind. For a founder, work is the hobby. No one wishes they could be working for someone else 10 more hours and plenty of people want to work on productive things in their off hours.

s73v3r2• 11 years ago

That's different, as they directly reap the benefits of doing that work. If I were to stay another 10 hours at my job, I would receive precisely dick, as I'm sure most of us would.

toomuchtodo6• 11 years ago

Baby Boomers lived through the most prosperous period in American history. They have roots. They're tied to the US.

Millennials have gotten shit on repeatedly, between the housing crisis, the student loan crisis (looming), and a subpar job market. They have less ties and more mobility.

ekanes• 11 years ago

How did the housing crisis affect millenials?

__xtrimsky• 11 years ago

As a Millennial with a 2200 sqft house, a job and no student loans I don't feel the same way.

But I guess in some way I was lucky (no student loans because I studied in an international school, which was much cheaper). And housing because I moved to a cheap area and telecommute to a company in Silicon Valley.

Symbiote• 11 years ago

Perhaps the suggestion is the millennials are doing something about it, where previous generations didn't. It's unfortunate if they feel emigration is the only available solution.

But it's easy to say you'd like to emigrate. Actually doing so takes some dedication. Are there any statistics on that?

npsimons• 11 years ago

I think it's pretty easily explained in even just the fifth paragraph in: most bosses are baby boomers, with a stay at home spouse who takes care of household things (the "life" part of the balance), and they consider face time important. Most millenial couples OTOH are both working full time jobs, but willing to telecommute and have flexible hours, but are not permitted to, thereby leaving less time for the "life" part of that balance. It's basically a mismatch of perceptions and failure to understand what "work-life balance" actually means.

johnnyvile• 11 years ago

There is that old work hard mentality that your work ethic makes you a man in society. Below someone states men worked and women stayed at hoe to take care of the "life" part. Also in the way that many people grow up to work where their father did and much more was on you to be there working hard and have face time.

These days most companies can save money and hire more people if they allowed people to work form home or where ever they were. Most sales, leadership, tech support, software engineering, etc can be done from anywhere outside of the office with the technology these days. Computers and phones are mobile anywhere.

Companies wouldn't have to worry about getting bigger offices, facilities, cubicles, and other exenses with an office full of people.

ubertaco• 11 years ago

Agreed.

Also: I'm gonna go ahead and say that statements about what "Millennials" want/do/buy/are/read/smell/eat/whatever are about as dumb as any other kind of blanket statement.

The only consistent parts of the various definitions of "millennials" I've heard are "human" and "younger than the person making the claim".

nugget• 11 years ago

Actually I just want to be able to afford a nice condo in a major city, which precludes work-life balance for awhile.

rifung• 11 years ago

Do you get paid by the hour? If not, why does having work life balance mean you can't have a nice condo in a major city?

scott_karana• 11 years ago

I would really appreciate it if HN started flagging posts with "Millenials" in the title.

AndrewKemendo2• 11 years ago

If I was in a job I hated and had to do it to live, then that is one thing, in which case I would try to spend as little time working as possible. I think most people are in this situation, so it makes sense in that regard.

As a general ethos though, I don't get it. I don't want to be doing something that doesn't fully engage me. I quit my cushy government job last year to go full in on our startup and while the hours are something like 12-15 hour days, it doesn't feel like work most of the time. So in this sense I don't really get the idea of "work-life balance" because the work I am doing is what I want my life to be.

It seems like the idea of having your "life's work" is a luxury or alternatively something that slightly insane people have. In the cases where it works and the vision is big enough you get these outsized figures who do amazing things. Why anyone would choose otherwise - I don't really understand.

Sharlin• 11 years ago

There's a continuum of positions between "hating your job" and "living and breathing your job". Many of us like our jobs very much thank you, but we also have other things we want to do. Besides, not everybody can be productive doing something 12 hours a day (or even 8!) even if we love it when we do. I love dancing but I still only do it a few hours per week. You should try not to generalize from a single point of data (yourself).

AndrewKemendo2• 11 years ago

No generalization, I'm simply stating that I don't understand it. Agree with you however that the desire to work is probably normally distributed.

Millennials want a work-life balance

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