Home
News
Opinion
About
Archive
Jewish Insider
Subscribe
Facebook
Twitter
News Opinion Your Daily Phil
Facebook
Twitter
Subscribe
Search

The Millennial Revolution: Career, Community and Culture | Introducing the New American Jew

April 4, 2017
Share
Facebook
Twitter
Email
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

By Steven Windmueller, Ph.D.

Fourth and fifth generation Jews are making critically different career and occupational choices, just as they are articulating distinctive views on community and social activism. If their grandparent’s generation (1957) were comprised of self-employed businessmen (55.6%) and managers (14.9%), their fathers and mothers (1970) pursued careers as professionals (27.2%), including lawyers, doctors, accountants and university professors, in addition to expanding their roles as corporate managers (26.5%), Jewish Gen X’ers and Millennials are exhibiting a dramatic transition in career preferences.

As we welcome this new generation of America’s Jew, five disciplines will define their professional identity:

  • Financial Investments and Banking Services
  • Communications and Public Relations
  • Technology Sector
  • Research and Development
  • Start-Up Entrepreneurs

Data also suggests that this new generational cohort represents a highly diversified cohort of Jewish investors, inventors and investigators (seeking to bring new ideas to the public square).

When defining their distinctive work-style behavior, “Millennials care about things like work-life balance, sometimes even more than salary. They also care about collaborative, creative effort and often, about trying to effect social change.”

Millennials and the Idea of Community:

“Community” must be understood as a core value for Millennials. But their definition of “community” is also quite different from their parents’ perspective. In fact, for this generation the idea of community is integral to their lives, as they seek to blend their private and professional worlds. This is a generation that has a holistic view of their lives. Yet, this is not a monolithic group, as Millennials hold multiple identities and embrace an array of universal values. While it is a generation that rejects old structural frameworks, the idea of Jewish collectivity as expressed through social activism and Tikun Olam resonates with them. The search for meaning seems to be the central factor in defining Millennials’ personal and professional identities.

Other Generational Observations:

Collectively, “Millennials and Gen Z will soon represent half of the workforce, so change is the new norm.” Yet, this younger generation faces significant challenges:

“Finding and keeping a job or maintaining healthy relationships is stressful enough… But with the omnipresence of social media influencing culture, attitudes, values and behavior patterns, young people today experience unprecedented mental and physical stress.”

In connection with this emerging generation other key career and professional trends include:

They are digital natives; they’ve grown up in a world full of technology. Older millennials were just entering their adolescent years when the internet and cellular phones became widespread, and younger millennials know nothing of life in a world that lacks these elements.

They are global citizens in the sense that they feel connected to issues around the world. The instant and broad connectivity of the internet and constant exposure to social movements have made this commonplace.

They tend to be progressive in the sense that they’re always looking to move forward and seize new opportunities. When new technologies come along, they aren’t hesitant to adapt.

They are diverse. This is America’s most racially diverse group ever, which has allowed this generation to face and address many issues that previous generations struggled with.

Younger Americans were much more likely to say that their top priority was doing something that they found enjoyable or making a difference in society, with 57 percent choosing one of these options. Younger respondents, however, were significantly keener on the idea of owning their own businesses, with nearly one-third ranking this option as the best employment scenario. 49 percent saying that they expected to move from company to company rather than staying put.

Respondents of all ages thought that technology, healthcare, and energy production were the areas most likely to produce an abundance of new jobs over the next 10 years.

Closing Observations:

As this new generation asserts its presence on the public stage, the character of the Jewish future will no doubt reflect the imprint of the Millennials. There is already evidence of significant pockets of wealth creation in connection with millennial entrepreneurs. Yet, the larger impact that this generational cohort is likely to produce will involve the reshaping of philanthropic, political and religious patterns of participation, driven by their life-style choices and their distinctive social values orientation. In relationship to the global forces that will drive 21st century economic behavior, it is evident that Jewish Millennials will be joining their generational partners in taking advantage of worldwide business opportunities and participating in international social causes, leading to an expanded global Jewish Diaspora.

The emergence of Jewish Millennials will exhibit many of the characteristics of their generation, yet still portraying certain distinctive Jewish values and social behaviors

Steven Windmueller, Ph.D. on behalf of the Wind Group, Consulting for the Jewish Future.

Your Daily Phil

February 3, 2023

Your Daily Phil: Hillel in Ukraine after nearly a year of war + Tu B’Shevat and climate change

News

Iosif

following up

The director of Hillel in Ukraine on how students are faring nearly a year into Russia’s invasion

collaborative effort

Three Israeli NGOs in Africa weren’t collaborating. Now they’re working together

Pamela Schuller performs for a group of early career professionals at NBC and Comcast in May 2022.

JDAIM PREVIEW

Jewish disability advocates aim to expand their work as they kick off a month of programming

the ask

JCRC-NY’s Gideon Taylor on Israel, Holocaust education and fighting antisemitism in New York

The Rashi School, a Reform Jewish day school in the Boston area.

paying dues

Two new grants increase focus on day school affordability

An Israeli lights candles in memory of the victims at the site of Friday's shooting attack in Jerusalem.

REACTIONS

Jewish orgs stress Holocaust commemoration in condemning Jerusalem attack

Participants in this year's Jewish Foundation for the Righteous Holocaust education seminar.

teaching the teachers

As knowledge about the Holocaust declines, these educators are learning how to teach it

Opinion

Wait for it

Climate change, delayed gratification and Tu B’Shevat

multipliers vs. diminishers

Confusion and control: Parshat Beshalach

tomorrow's leaders

Building the Jewish future, one Jewish young adult at a time 

Rethinking ‘spiritual’ communities — Jewish women’s wisdom circles

Trend Watch

Digital predictions, trends for Jewish nonprofits to watch in 2023

on the frontline

Becoming antisemitism first-responders

Navigation
Home
News
Opinion
Archive
About
Social
Facebook
Twitter
Subscribe

Copyright © 2021 · eJewish Philanthropy · All Rights Reserved

Subscribe now to
Your Daily Phil

The philanthropy news you need to stay up to date, delivered daily in a must-read newsletter.