Why are many Millennials feeling frustrated and experiencing burnout? What is causing Millennial burnout? Millennials came of age during a critical time of transition, yet most were encouraged to follow the traditional path their parents and society told them to go down. Here are the twelve main causes that have contributed to Millennial burnout.
Table of Contents
12 Causes Of Millennial Burnout
College
[bctt tweet=”Millennials cannot enjoy the same quality of life that past generations have enjoyed, from being able to buy a house to dealing with wage stagnation making them unable to get ahead.” via=”no”]
Millennials were told by their parents, high school college placement, college recruiters, and society to attend college. That is how it always had been done to become successful, they were told. They spent five figures at minimum to go to college. The price of college admission does not include buying books, living in dorms, and having to buy food for meals at the college cafeteria, grocery store, or eating out.
More money will be spent on the higher education system if someone decides to graduate from school or further. They will likely have more student loans to repay once they enter the workforce. The Economic Policy Institute in chart five shows that the “real average hourly wages of young college graduates, 1989 -2014” have been falling since 2000. There is no reason for young people to go to college today, given the better options that technology now offers that make the higher education system obsolete.
Coming Of Age During An Evolving Workforce
Millennials came of age during the evolving workforce. Jobs and more opportunities were beginning to transition from in-person to online. Some may not have been aware of this transition because they were in college, which was still pushing the outdated workforce. When Millennials were in their best years, in their twenties, websites and YouTube became popular hobbies or ways to create income.
Gig Jobs
Most Millennials have probably worked some gig job. These jobs are often thought of as temporary jobs until you can get an actual job working for a company or start your own business. Gig jobs can also be side hustles to generate additional income alongside a regular job. Still, most of the most well-known ones, like driving for Uber or Lyft, or delivering food for GrubHub or UberEats, won’t pay enough if you work fifty hours a week. I know from experience that I did food deliveries for GrubHub while in graduate school. You are also responsible for paying for your gas and anything extra that you may need to make the job easier.
Related – Life As A Single Woman Uber Driver [The Gig Economy Experience]
Unable To Get A Traditional Career
[bctt tweet=”The traditional job of working your way up for an employer and having a career is now a myth. The career is dead.” via=”no”]
Due to sending millions of jobs overseas and technology replacing jobs with robots and artificial intelligence, Millennials now must compete against humans and technology. A robot does not need to sleep. It does not need to eat. It can work twenty-four hours, seven days a week. They cannot get started on what has been thought of as a traditional career even though they are the most educated generation because most went to college only to get into debt and receive an overpriced piece of paper.
Millennials have become accustomed to jobs that are non-traditional jobs out of necessity. They will often work gig jobs to make some extra money. They may do freelancing part-time to full-time or do freelancing as a side hustle. They may find others side jobs or side hustles to make ends meet. The most successful found ways to make their side hustle into their full-time things and find ways to make money outside of a traditional job. As a result, they have been unable to get a regular job that is widely accepted as being thought of as normal by their parents or society.
Because of working non-traditional jobs, their resume does not match what employers expect. They may often receive weird remarks about their resume because it does not fit the nice box employers want. Thus, it makes it more difficult for Millennials to get what may be considered a traditional job because employers still have an old mindset of what a good resume looks like. This is true even if someone today has a bachelor’s and a graduate degree. I have experienced these types of remarks from interviews with employers.
Unemployed Or Underemployment
Millennials experience unemployment or underemployment. According to CNBC, “the number of employed young people making less than $25,000 a year has spiked significantly to the highest levels than a quarter century.” Millennials are generally tech-savvy, yet those skills and knowledge are often underutilized. Most, for whatever reason, may have been unable to get paid their true market worth. If they know what their skills are worth. They had to settle for a job that didn’t fit their skillset or knowledge just to be employed even though they were underemployed. Others may have decided to drop out of the job market since it has become nearly impossible to get ahead and get things previous generations took for granted.
Despite doing what they were told to do by their parents and society, they are unable to get ahead. Let alone make enough money to plan for retirement. The system is broken.
Wage Stagnation
Wage stagnation has been a problem since the 1970s for the upcoming generations as “the value of the dollar paid to employees has slowed compared to overall economic productivity.” One job can no longer cover most bills of Americans who live paycheck to paycheck. While most jobs that follow the career path are unable to keep up with wage stagnation, this becomes even more of the case, working multiple jobs that are essentially entry-level service jobs in the app economy. With the rise of inflation, the mainstream media is now beginning to catch on that American workers are taking on second jobs. With wage stagnation, rising inflation, expensive real estate, the gutting of the American economy, and the cost of living in one of the most expensive countries in the world, Millennials have been forced to find alternative routes to make enough money to survive.
Related – 30 Reasons For The Great Resignation
Real Estate
Real estate costs seem to only get more expensive in the United States. The Motley Fool found that the average home price in the United States is now $428,700. The average monthly mortgage in the United States is now between $2,000 to $3,000, depending on the mortgage type. According to Rent, the average monthly rent in the United States is $1,721 for a one-bedroom apartment. With the rising rent, mortgage, and real estate costs combined with wage stagnation, Millennials are accepting that they may never be able to buy a house of their own.
Home Ownership
Home ownership is a foundation for building wealth. Millennials and younger generations have been closed out from being unable to access this critical life milestone due to wage stagnation, the cost of living, and the rising cost of real estate. Millennials are becoming a generation of renters. Those who want to own a house may have to look for options outside the United States.
Related – Welcome To The Circus: Bread, Circuses, And Debt Traps
Social Media
Millennials grew up with social media. Social media lets users connect with people online rather than meeting people in person. It has also made it easier for them to compare themselves to others. It has also led to a rise in social isolation and loneliness.
Related – The Loneliness Epidemic And The Social Media Paradox
Debt
As a result of the rising cost of living and inability to get jobs that pay well, Millennials have often gone into debt. Millennials were encouraged to go into debt to get an overpriced college degree. According to CNBC, “the average millennial consumer has about $27,251 in non-mortgage debt, and millennial homeowners have an average mortgage balance of $232,372.” Debt can add to the stress.
Stress
There are many causes of stress. Financial stress is a common problem that often goes overlooked. Getting married is another common cause. Fear and uncertainty increase stress levels. Emotional issues such as low self-confidence, low self-self-esteem, guilt, anger, grief, anxiety, and depression also can add to the stress.
Staying Single Longer
It is no surprise that younger generations, such as the Millennials, are delaying marriage and staying single longer. While people may be single for many reasons, the economic and financial consequences play a significant role in why many Millennials remain single. They cannot afford to buy a house, which is often the first step to the financial stability needed to begin to consider getting married. There are social, economic, and political ramifications to a country when people remain single for more extended or lifelong singles.
Solutions
[bctt tweet=”Many creative solutions are available today, but you need to be open to going against the grain and stop listening to the failed system. ” via=”no”]
While Millennials may be experiencing burnout, there are always options and solutions. Here are five solutions for Millennials to work to improve their life if they are dealing with burnout.
Minimalism
Live a minimalist lifestyle. Do you need all the gadgets, subscriptions, or things you have? Instead of always buying the latest things or trying to keep up with the Joneses, you can simplify your life. A minimalist lifestyle is living with and using only the things that you need. You may not need ten different versions of the same shirt. You may not always need to get the latest iPhone. It will also help you to save money since you will become less consumeristic.
Related – What Is Minimalism? 30 Benefits Of Living A Minimalist Lifestyle
Meditation
Meditation is a way to deal with stress. It could be doing something as simple as doing some breathing exercises for a few minutes a day. You could also do yoga or prayer. You can practice mindfulness. It will depend on what you are trying to achieve through meditation. Learn to relax. Find peace, even if it’s only for a few minutes during your day.
Related – 5 Health Benefits Of Meditation And Why Singles Should Meditate During The Holiday Season
Learn An In-Demand Skill
You could learn in-demand skills in the areas of technology, trade skills, and business skills. Some examples of technology skills include digital marketing, data analytics, computer programming, cybersecurity, robotics, and artificial intelligence. Trade skills in demand include construction, plumbing, electrical technician, automotive technician, physical therapy, and medical laboratory tech. Business skills include being able to manage people, finding new ways to generate income streams, problem-solving, and being persistent. The reality is that hard skills matter the most, yet those are the very skills that they don’t teach students in college.
Online Business
You could decide to start an online business. An online business will allow you to find creative ways to build multiple income streams. It will also allow you to work from anywhere in the world. You need a website, an email list to build your core audience, products, and services to sell to your customers. You can add social media later to reach more people further to grow an online business. Once you have a few products, physical or digital, you can then have passive coming in that you can reinvest to expand the business, reinvest into another business, invest in another financial asset, or pay yourself once the business is making enough.
Move To A Less Expensive Country
You could consider moving to a less expensive state or country if you can work remotely, freelancer, or own an online business. Instead of having to pay $400,000 for an entry-level house like in the United States, you may be able to find something comparable in another country for $150,000 or less. You could buy the house or condo in cash instead of paying a mortgage which is standard in the United States. You could buy a second residency and get a second passport in another country. It is essential to have a Plan B strategy.
Conclusion
Millennial burnout is a problem. While Millennials are often presented as being a weak generation, the previous generations often won’t’ acknowledge that they came of age during a period of technological transition and disruption. Millennials have had to adapt to the changing economic and job environments to work to get ahead. Moving abroad may be a viable option for some Millennials since the American Dream is dead. If there ever was a dream to begin with.
