WELCOME to yworking.com, a new blog about a new generation of worker.

Why Y?

yworking.com was created as a response to every person who has ever claimed Generation Y lacks ‘work ethic’. It has been born not to refute that statement, but instead to question the very premise of it.

On this blog, we’ll work under the assumption that ‘work ethic’ does not really exist and has never existed. There was never a time in history where people worked simply because they enjoyed so much the act of work. Rather, people have work, do work and will continue to work — under the banner of ‘Generation Y’ and beyond — to satisfy mostly economic, sometimes intellectual, occasionally cultural and very rarely spiritual needs. We have very little need for any kind of ethics when it comes to work.

Am I Y?

This site also fully understands that lines draw between generations are entirely arbitrary. They are, after all, merely labels, and like all labels can make no claim to universality. That said, they sure are convenient when it comes to making wide-eyed generalizations. Here’s the breakdown this site uses:

• Traditionalist (born 1947 or earlier): steadfast, cautious, loyal, conservative, able to contextualize the second World War II entirely without the aid of Steven Spielberg
• Baby Boomers (born 1948 to 1964): optimistic, non-conformist, self-fulfilling, as seen in every montage of the 1960s Civil Rights movement ever
• Generation X (born 1965 to 1977): pragmatic, cynical, adaptive to change, love-hate relationship with Ronald Reagan
• Generation Y (born 1978 to 1991): techno-geeks, communicative, attention whores, there’s a war on terrorism

About the Author

Matt Elliott was born in 1983, making him part of Generation Y. Since graduating from a university in 2006, he has held employment, which satisfies the ‘working’ component of this whole deal. He currently lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada with his girlfriend. You can learn more at his personal site.

Questions can be e-mailed to this address.