Can't Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation

Millennials graduated in the midst of a recession. They entered the workforce against the constant background noise of boomers boasting of their own “git-r-done” bootstrapping mentality that elided any sort of acknowledgement of how different wages vs cost of living was for their generation. Millennials are a product of helicopter parenting styles fuelled by the notion of “raising resumes” and packed lives filled with extracurricular activities that might put a sheen on future college applications. That “college-at-any-cost” mentality has left many with crippling debt paired with an anxious workaholic mindset. Now they're just trying to eke out a semblance of a living in spite of the rise of contract workers, high paid consultants shaving jobs and wages, the gig economy, unchecked capitalism and, lest we forget, “waves hand” all this.

And still they're dismissed as the “laziest generation.” OK Boomer.

The problems here are not unique to Millennials - work HAS gotten shittier, social media has created a sense of pervasive FOMO while turning meals, vacations and experiences into self-conscious, curatorial labour. We're sold the idea of “if you just work hard enough” success will find you while burning ourselves down to tiny nubs. And it's nothing we haven't heard before from erudite think pieces to Twitter hot takes and an abundance of internet memes. And sadly there's not much in the way of solutions here - more a sense of solace in being seen while advocating for, in peak millennial fashion, vague political action.

While the book didn't knock me out, Anne Helen Petersen still has one of the best newsletters out there with Culture Study. She's weekly thinking through everything she touches on in the book as well as bro culture, getting meeting'ed to death, the mental load of being “the Mom” and the invisible work of families as everyone struggles with the new WFH reality (and that's just in the last month). If you were even slightly interested in what this book might have to say, do yourself a favour and subscribe to her newsletter.