Before the millennial generation, work-life balance was truly unheard of; boomers had a job for life. That said though, for boomers born on the cusp of Gen X, job security was wiped away by the massive down-sizing in the late 80's and early 90's.

Some were forced into a position of job hopping that Gen X sees as business as usual. This turmoil late in their careers further trampled on any notion of work-life balance. And they were merely interested in finding a job.

Meanwhile Gen Xers, they experienced a latch key kid phenomenon due to skyrocketing number of single parent families. They also were the first generation where job security was absolutely a thing of the past.

A fierce independence ensued and Xers adopted a “what’s in it for me” attitude in order to survive. Meanwhile, they took a very high level of interest in their kids’ development, more so than many of their parents were able to do. They pushed for flexible work schedules to further allow them to have an active role in raising their children in the millennial generation.

The Millennial Generation want careers mapped out

As a result, the millennial generation has learned from all of us that they need to have control over their work schedules. However, they get that they can't sacrifice quality in gaining control of their schedule. But they want the flexibility to have a life.

Boomers had no concept of career planning. It just wasn't done nor was it ever talked about. That was fine for a boomer as long as the pay check continued.

Gen Xers have always felt that they needed to control their own destinies and take absolute responsibility for their long-term career plans and really their long-term happiness. They were comfortable leaving a job if their career progression stalled.

They were not above promoting themselves to higher up managers in order to help their careers along. Meanwhile Gen Xers wanted only the best opportunities for their kids. Thus, they started them out early in developing skills that would raise them above other children their age.

The millennial generation is open to advisers

Gen Xers constantly lavished praise on their children, telling them that they can do anything they wanted if they just applied themselves. If you worked hard, you would be rewarded. However, instead of making the plan themselves, as Gen Xers required to do, the millennial generation was given the plan by parents, teachers, counselors, and coaches. Thus, they will expect their manager to be directly and absolutely responsible for presenting a long-term plan for their career growth.