Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 31, 1995 TAG: 9506010015
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press|
DATELINE: DALLAS LENGTH: Medium
A fledgling organization in Dallas called Successors: The New Work Force is aimed at bringing together young business people, helping them meet each other and, founders hope, inspiring them to entrepreneurial endeavors.
``We just think that if we get people like us into a group situation, things seem to evolve,'' said Steve Krajewski, 25, associate editor of Adweek Southwest, an advertising trade publication that's helping sponsor the group.
``We're just trying to create an environment where people with similar interests and motivation can interact,'' Krajewski said.
The new group is timely. Forbes magazine devoted its May 8 cover to the unsung entrepreneurial zeal of Generation X. In a story called ``Computers Are Our Friends'' the magazine says the standouts of this generation are powered by computer literacy and a desire to control their own destinies.
``Things are changing faster and you have people that grew up using technology and computers, and they have open ways of thinking and they're less, perhaps, rigid in their ideas about how things ought to be,'' said 30-year-old Michael Dell, who founded Austin-based Dell Computer Corp. from his college dorm room.
An entrepreneurial awakening is a long way from the ``slacker'' image generally associated with X-ers - ``whining kids with nose rings,'' as consultant and columnist Deroy Murdock puts it.
But dozens who attended Successors' inaugural happy hour late last month were happy to explain the ways in which they perceive themselves as differing from their elders.
Many say they are looking for more balance in their lives than they've seen in baby boomers, acknowledging that family, friends and fun are just as important - or more so - than what they do during the workday.
``It's the things I do after work that are going to make me excel,'' said Chris Roberts, 24, a business systems analyst-software engineer with MCI Communications.
Quality of life also seems important to this age group. Successors organizer Tom Landis, 26, who works from home, sometimes sits in the hot tub or works out at 7:45 a.m. for the 45 minutes he would have spent commuting.
``I guarantee you I'm going to come up with better ideas and be a little [more] creative than someone who has to sit at a table in a starched shirt and a pair of wingtips on.''
Most of all, the X-ers feel disillusioned by changes in American corporate culture. Downsizings and what they see as thanklessness from their bosses leaves this group feeling no loyalty toward their employers.
``You can't go to the companies anymore and depend on lifelong employment. You've got to start something yourself,'' said Greg Walter, 26, a production publishing specialist for Xerox Corp.
Landis, who started his own public relations firm 11/2 years ago, said he learned the business world doesn't care about employees when he saw his father laid off by a bank six months before retirement.
``Basically, I think it's very hard to look out for anybody but yourself,'' Landis said. ``It seems very hard that you're going to find a company that's looking for that. And the wave of the future is working on your own.''
Murdock, 31, a co-founder and national board member of Third Millennium, a New York-based political advocacy group founded by people born after 1960, affirmed many of the concerns and attitudes expressed by the Dallas group, including the experiences of those who graduated into a world of corporate restructurings.
``Because opportunities are often limited for us, a lot of us - including me - have gone out and started our own companies,'' Murdock said.
Despite such concerns, Daniel Hamermesh, an economics professor at the University of Texas at Austin in his early 50s, said the key distinguishing feature of the under-30 set in the business world is a ``phenomenal'' willingness to complain.
Many college graduates have inflated expectations and fail to understand career progression, often expecting entry-level jobs earning $50,000 a year or more, Hamermesh said. And going out on one's own in business generally leads to failure, he said.
But the baby busters ultimately should do well because there aren't very many of them, unlike baby boomers who haven't succeeded as well because of the crowded labor market, Hamermesh said.
``I fully expect those kids who have education to do fairly well over time because they are a fairly scarce commodity,'' he said.
by CNB