Facebook Profiles Reveal Gen Y Work Trends

 I found this post particularly interesting, with Generation Y being so tech savvy and known as the digital natives, its no wonder that Facebook profiles are able to reveal work trends about us, this post by the examiner made me think how much information do we really release onto our facebook pages?

I mean of course most if not all our friends are on the site but should we really let the rest of the world know every little detail about us?

To understand Generation Y workplace trends, look no further than Facebook.  The social networking giant has always been home to a smattering of information about the social activities of young people, but new analysis provides insight into their professional lives as well.
Only about a third of Millennials list a job entry on their Facebook profiles, but eight in 10 list at least one school, according to a new study released Monday of over 50 million Facebook data points from Identified.com by personal branding agency Millennial Branding.
This gap between listing jobs and listing schools is largely related to the economy--Millennials continue to struggle to find employment but are still attending college in record numbers.  Beyond that, the gap could indicate Millennials aren’t defining themselves by their jobs and may not even want to bring attention to their employment situation at all.

The study found that the most common industry of employment is travel and hospitality (think servers and bartenders) among Gen Y’ers who listed employment information on their Facebook profiles.  If that is still the dominant industry among the 64 percent of Millennials who didn’t list jobs on their profiles, it really is no wonder that portion of their profile is blank.

Millennials are the most educated generation yet.  Their educational achievement was highly encouraged, and supported (often even financially) by their Baby Boomer parents.  Participating in sports where everyone got a trophy taught them to value accolades.  Additionally, their Boomer parents and teachers taught them if they worked hard and excelled in the classroom, they would excel in other areas of life, particularly professionally.  Given that fostered mindset, it wouldn’t be surprising if educated Millennials working in jobs that don’t utilize their education simply choose not to list their employment situation.
Perhaps many Millennials would rather focus on the achievement that spurs pride (education) and ignore the job that doesn’t seem like an achievement to them.

This could explain another finding in Millennial Branding’s study.
Rather than starting their corporate ladder climb with entry-level jobs at big corporations, Generation Y seems to be turning to entrepreneurship.  Of those 18- to 29-year-olds who list at least one job in their profile, only 10 percent have worked for a Fortune 500 company and only 7 percent are currently working for a Fortune 500 company.   Whereas, “Owner” is the fifth most common job title Gen Y lists on their Facebook profile.

If professional achievement isn’t found via traditional methods, Generation Y is creating their own way.
But regardless of where they are working, in true Millennial style, they are making friends along the way.
On average, a Millennial has 16 Facebook friends from work.  As a result, whether or not they list details about their work experience on Facebook profiles, their work and personal lives become intertwined. 
 “Gen Y needs to be aware that what they publish online can come back to haunt them in the workplace,” said Dan Schawbel, founder of Millennial Branding.  “Gen-Y managers and co-workers have insight into their social lives, which could create an awkward workplace setting or even result in a termination.”


Sharalyn, H. (2012). Facebook Profiles Reveal Gen Y Work Trends. Available: http://www.examiner.com/article/facebook-profiles-reveal-gen-y-work-trends. Last accessed 29th Apr 2012.