We are known as the “selfie generation”, the “millennials”, the “entitled” - we have it easy - and it's all been handed to us.
That, at least, is the narrative that has been associated with my generation growing up, and now again whenever I begin to think of a career after university.
But this apparent entitlement doesn’t quite square with the suffocating fear I feel when I consider the future. It seems the benefits of our privilege do not cover the notion of honest employment or fair pay for hard work.
Entry-level jobs nowadays require at least a postgraduate degree and two years previous experience. In the place of salaried openings on the bottom of the wage ladder, we find indefinite internships and exploitative schemes like JobBridge instead.
We're expected to fulfil demanding, high-pressure, skilled jobs and then be delighted to be paid in "experience" instead of wages. Experience unfortunately won't pay the rent, or even cover the cost of a pint. You begin to feel like you have to crawl over the husks of fatigued fellow graduates to reach the coveted status of salaried employment in your chosen career.
Even then the conditions of employment are far from stable. There are no more steady jobs it seems and three to six-month contracts are now the norm. At any point one’s life can veer off into unemployment and chaos. Contracts, employment rights and wages have all been stripped down and streamlined to the bare bones.
But, be my guest and bemoan any hesitation we might have about leaving the nest and making it on our own as but a symptom of our own inherent idleness. The normalisation of this exploitative labour culture has spread across the workforce, and the choice left for young people is to accept it or concede unemployment.
I don’t think I’m entitled to a job, but I do feel I deserve to be paid adequately if I find one. I have no doubt that past generations worked hard in tough conditions, but at least they received payment for it. Upon leaving college my generation will have to work just as hard, but we must do so in a competitive and transient environment; and be happy for whatever we can get.
Is it surprising those who get spit back out of the careerist battle royale are lethargic and despondent? The nature of the game has changed, and hard graft doesn’t seem to cut it anymore, so excuse my anger for feeling the rug has been pulled out from under me.
The onus is on businesses to take stock of this culture they’re creating and prevent a race to the bottom. 80,000 people will emigrate over the course of this year, with young graduates making up the bulk of that number. This shortsighted policy of cutting costs on the back of our young and vulnerable talent will only further push more to look abroad for a future that is viable.
Employers must come to realize that only when they commit to paying and treating new graduates fairly they will be able to keep Ireland’s best and brightest from leaving. The political establishment must play its part too in legislating against internship schemes that exist only to exploit free and expendable labour.
Seeing friends and younger relatives graduate to be faced with nothing but unemployment or exploitation is difficult to stomach. All we want is honest pay for honest work. So don’t mistake our disheartenment for laziness, or our aspirations for entitlement.
