"OK Boomer" Retort

iaparent
Wed, 13 Nov 2019 16:36:03 +0000

I read an article a week or two ago, I believe it was in USA Today, that looked at the OK BOOMER statement with respects to employment. The assertion was that many Millennials are using the statement in the workplace as a way of saying “get out of the workforce so I can get promoted”. In theory this would make sense as boomers are retiring later and clogging up many org charts.

The article went on to give 2 examples of Millennials that sought other employment because their industry was too clogged with older workers. The first example was teaching where the average age (in the example given) was around 54 years old and the second example was a union office where the average age was 51 years old. These examples caused me to disregard the entire OK BOOMER response within employment.

First neither complaint is against the boomers, those averages fall directly to Gen X (realizing in an average there will be some above and below the average). Second, and more important to me, is what are those in their early 50’s (which includes me) supposed to do? The OK BOOMER response is I need to retire so the millennial can get promoted/make more money. While I would like nothing more than to retire and live comfortably that is not a reality for the vast majority of the workforce and would lead to more of the issues the millennials seem concerned with. Should I be forced out of the workforce right now my 2 children would be saddled with massive student debt and I would most likely downsize my household, taking away already scarce lower income housing.

Obviously I read this article through my own bias but I walked away with a much harsher view of the OK BOOMER statement. The article left me of the opinion that the Millenials are truly selfish and don’t care about the wealth or welfare of their parents generation and are only concerned about themselves. The take away (for me) was get out of our way because we need the jobs and the money, you have served your purpose and we no longer care about you or your well being.

Obviously this is not the attitude of most millennials but by trying to tackle many different issues with a 2 word retort shuts down needed dialog and reinforces many of the stereotypes brought up earlier, specifically it is lazy.