The boomers' kids get a job
Their resumes are gilded, but the `echoes' may be a drag on the economy
Others are proving they can be just as loyal as employees of past generations. Every so often, job recruiters come after Laurie Bertner, 23, a healthcare services industry analyst at T. Rowe Price in Baltimore. She doesn't plan to leave anytime soon. "This job is all about merit and working your butt off," she says.
Still, the cooling economy may force echo boomers to work harder and, perhaps, expect less. Corrie Sepcich, 24, a flight instructor at DeKalb-Peachtree airport in Atlanta, is slowly building up enough flight time so she can get hired as a pilot for a small airline. "With our age group, we think we should have it right now," she says. "But it's not an immediate-gratification type of job."
Delayed gratification won't come easy for the echoes. They grew up in two decades of nearly uninterrupted prosperity and economic growth. Echo boomers "have been told all their lives they could do what they want," says Tulgan. "They've been watching the gold rush all their lives." Then the gold rush came to an end. The echoes may not produce another.
Youth comeback
Twenty-somethings will soon occupy a bigger share of the workforce.
20-to-29-year-olds (as a share of total labor force)
Projected echo boom
[Chart data are not available.]
Are you an echo boomer?
A quick guide to America's three largest generations:
Baby boomers Generation X Echo boomers
Year of birth 1946-1964 1965-1976 1977-1997
How many 77 million 44 million 80 million
Most significant
popular technology Television Computer Internet
Defining medical event The pill AIDS Stem-cell research?
Most significant death John Kennedy Princess Diana Columbine students
Emblematic diva Barbra Streisand Madonna Britney Spears
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
With Susan Brenna and Ingrid Lobet
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