Millennials: Victims of a Rigged System

 

“Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor” (The Hunger Games, 2012). Hello there! Why are we here today? Well, we are here today to discuss the opposition we millennials face in the modern age. Each and every one of us are pitted against each other in what can only be described as some madman’s sick version of The Hunger Games! Just when you think you’ve got the job,”whack,” you get the axe instead!

The need to find a job is crucially pivotal, yet impossibly daunting. We flood employers with our applications, and our neat cover letters, but hardly get nibbles. Those of us who are lucky enough to land an interview are often quickly cast aside, discarded, to make way for a more experienced candidate.

Employers give a pseudo-official impression that we aren’t skilled enough. That we’re bad goods, and just can’t hack it. Their impression is inaccurate. It also convinces us to negatively label ourselves. The hidden truth is, we’re approaching yet another recession. Many Americans are taking lower paying jobs in order to make end’s meet. Every proprietor currently cherry-picks from the cream of the crop, only examining the extraordinary candidates.

An increasing number of employers only hire workers with more skills, more abilities, and more accolades than what is required of the job they are filling; They’re hiring somebody, who in reality, is overqualified for the position. How are we to gain experience without an opportunity to do so? One must assume that we are all unfairly expected to take on an amoeba-like skill set in order to survive.

Let’s look at today’s reality. The middle class has effectively been phased out, while the upper 2% sit back and reap all the benefits. It seems that there isn’t enough work to go around for us Millennials. Our daily struggle centers around balancing an ever increasing amount of stress, information overload, and endlessly scrolling through career opportunities that are just out of reach.

Yet, the digital age is booming, and marketers are marketing! Think about how many different tasks you can complete online. Imagine how many companies must exist! Every important company, big or small, has an online presence. This enables us to easily exchange (currency for goods or vice versa) with a company from the luxury of our own homes. We don’t even have to pick up the phone! Zero communication required. It’s effortless to hop online, search out a product, and purchase it. You aren’t even required to leave your couch. Simply put, it’s convenient.

It may not often cross your mind, but look around and recognize what is happening: “automation.” “Automation” is defined as “the use of self-regulating machinery, electronic equipment, etc. to make a manufacturing system or process operate at greater speed and with little or no human intervention” (Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 2010). This creation of automacy is very lucrative for companies.

Think of all the businesses we pictured earlier. Now, envision and approximate the total jobs lost because companies have paved the way for automation. While this kind of service is, indeed, very convenient, it is literally decimating working opportunities all across the United States. Why pay an individual when you can alternatively “program” this function and maximize profits?

While the total amount of companies who initialize automation is increasing, that same amount (and more) of previously available positions is vastly decreasing. Between 2000 and 2010, approximately 5.6 million manufacturing jobs were seized by automatons, adding to the unemployment crisis, and effectively widening the poverty margin.

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) may have aided us millennials in obtaining an education, but there is nobody to receive us on the other side. What use is an education without a decent career? In truth, we have been left behind-an entire generation. Many of us are begging for a chance, but those pleas have fallen upon deaf ears. We have been led astray, escorted to the desert in search of a promised oasis; but it’s a farce, a mirage. We’re lemmings, unknowingly plummeting to our dooms.

“The hope is there. The sun is rising. Our best days are yet to come” (-John F. Kerry). We have to keep marching onward, venturing toward uncharted horizons. Despite this overwhelming resistance we all feel, we know our best days are still ahead of us. Through an interweaving of our experiences and hobbies, we will set out to change the course of the world.

Millennials are the underdogs. Your diamonds in the rough: unknown, underestimated, stealthy assassins. Flying below the radar, and constantly counted out, we are a powerhouse of self-taught intellectual technologists, open-minded pragmatists, and undervalued leaders who are prepared to annihilate any challenge head-on.

Striving for success, we’ve crafted razor sharp skills that can be executed with surgical precision. Majoring in fluidity, each of us are versatile, possessing the ability to quickly grasp fresh ideas and subjects with great ease.

Millennials are incredibly well rounded, and in this regard, we’re anticipating the impending new world challenges; fully conscious that our skills will be in high demand. Exhale, this is just the begining. In frustrated unison, let each of us initiate yet another application. Continue looking to the future, persistently awaiting, and sharpening your ever evolving (amoeba-like) skill set.

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Vincent Vickery is an exceedingly passionate writer! A natural wordsmith, he possesses extensive writing experience on countless matters. Open minded and creative, he embraces life experiences, examines information, and assimilates them to reproduce fresh, invigorating viewpoints. Specializing in the illumination of unvoiced perception, he writes to interconnect, influence, and involve the community. Liberal minded and altruistic, he believes in progressively enhancing today, to cultivate an amelioratedly awakened tomorrow.

Want to contact Vincent?
Email him at vincentvickery@gmail.com