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According to Gen Squeeze`s website, “This is NOT a “good deal… Still, our generation is doing all it can to adapt. To compete for better employment, we squeeze in YEARS more of education and tuition. To buy a place, we accept jobs or contracts that require us to work YEARS more to save a down payment. And for many, this means we wait YEARS longer to move out of our parents’ homes, or to establish our financial independence. WORK and POSTPONEMENT are our coping mechanisms.”

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Here’s our clarion call to old and young alike: Let’s join forces and cast away this clash of generations that is stoking indignation and misunderstanding in the workplace. Let’s pave a new way forward together.

Millennials were born between 1981 and 1994. More than 12 million strong and representing over one-third of Canada’s population, we are the largest demographic cohort to follow the baby boomers and the fastest-growing employee segment in the labour market.

Despite the fact that we are the most educated generation in history, youth unemployment in Canada reached 15.2% during the recent economic downturn — the highest level recorded in two decades. The barista whipping up your half-sweet, no foam, non-fat Green Tea Matcha? They could be the one in four young workers with a university education who, at last count, was labouring in a job for which they are overqualified.

We were raised with the fable that university is the ticket to success. Many of us bowed to it, an we’re now serving coffee

Millennials were raised with the fable that university is the ticket to success, and many of us bowed to it. Now, fresh out of school and brimming with possibility, we’re scorned for having any hopes of a middle-class future.