Reflections of a Millennial Generation Alumnus

This spring, another group of young professionals will graduate from Clemson and move into the workforce. This group, like others from the last few years, will be walking into corporate worlds drastically different from previous generations. The Millennial generation of 18-29 year olds grew up in a time marred with corporate scandal, fraud, and abuse. From Enron at the turn of the century to the trials and tribulations caused by Bernie Madoff and even more recently with the British Petroleum disaster, ethics issues have dominated the public’s perceptions of the corporate landscape.

I do not think anyone questions the perceived Millennial generation’s lack of loyalty to their employers. How could we be loyal when all we remember is how corporate mischief has negatively affected the world around us? Our lack of loyalty is embodied by our expectation of having many different jobs and careers throughout our lifetime. This is in stark contrast to earlier generations who preferred stability and who maintained long-term employments with companies. I have already switched careers and cities once since my graduation from Clemson in the spring of 2008, and, without sounding pessimistic, I am sure I will do it a few more times before I find my niche in the business world. I can only attribute my generation’s desire to change careers to our hopes of finding "the perfect" workplace.

I am currently a researcher with the Ethics Resource Center, based in Washington, DC, and I am tasked with working on research projects for companies and governmental entities. Previously, I worked for a small market research firm in Denver, CO, that specializes in software functionality for product satisfaction studies. During my short career, there have already been instances where I needed to stop and think about the ethical implications of my actions: whether it was how to present research data or how I should behave towards a fellow employee with whom I did not necessarily agree. An important lesson that we, as Millennials, need to learn is that our decisions now will shape how we make decisions in the future as we move up in our organizations. To prevent the ethics and compliance violations in companies from dominating the news for the next generations, we need to be fully aware of our values and use them in our current decision-making process. On a few occasions, I have chosen to speak up when situations did not coincide with my values and were an affront to my integrity, and on each occasion I was met with genuine concern by my management and their desire to make things right.

As students in the class of 2011 graduate from Clemson and enter the workforce, they need to keep their ideals and values at the forefront of their business endeavors. It is an absolute certainty that they will be put in circumstances that will make them call on their core values to make ethical decisions. Clemson has done an amazing job in preparing each one of us to make the ethical decisions required throughout our careers so that companies may thrive in a world economy. I frequently look back to lessons learned at Clemson to help me understand and make decisions in the workplace. As the Millennial generation, we have the opportunity to positively affect and alter the way businesses act ethically, and I hope we take advantage of it.

Matt Robbins '08
Project Manager/Researcher

Ethics Resource center