This is a postcard written from one side of the Great Millennial Switcheroo to the other: Hey, what's it like over there? Do you remember what we were thinking back on this side?
To capture this moment of the Great Crossover, the Fast Company-Roper Starch Worldwide Survey asked members of the Fast Company community to gauge the world of work in terms both sublime and ridiculous, to test the attitudinal waters for what really matters and for what barely registers. Is it the things of the moment -- the always-changing diary of who's hot and who's not, the celebrification of practically everything -- that stir us? Or is it the stuff of serious New Year's resolutions -- work that makes a difference, life that feels in balance, the stuff of head and heart, wallet and well-being, fortune and family -- that moves the soul? Which causes more head scratching? The prospect of waking up to a world in which too many of the microchips that control everything from the coffeemaker to the microwave, from the Mars Pathfinder to the Nissan Pathfinder, choose this particular morning to misbehave? Or the ongoing challenge of figuring out, once all the millennial dust has settled, exactly what kind of work will satisfy us, how much money will prove to be enough for us, what deeply shared values will tie us together as a community, and which people will continue to earn our admiration for their contributions?
In the spirit of millennial madness, we approached this survey with an appropriate mixture of amusement and amazement. After all, if you can't pit Bill Gates against Oprah Winfrey in a popularity contest when the clock strikes 2000, when can you do it? Haven't you always wondered how celebrities and CEOs measure up as companions on a hypothetical airplane ride? And whose bumper-sticker words of wisdom do a better job of putting the final brand on our times -- Jerry Seinfeld's, Forrest Gump's, or Nirvana's? Sure, we're in the middle of a global business revolution. But if you can't dance at the revolution, do you really want to be a part of it?
Still, despite our attempts at frivolity and foolishness, the Fast Company community once again answered our questions with unswerving smarts and seriousness of purpose. What we discovered was, in many ways, what we expected. At the turn of the millennium, the Fast Company crowd shows little evidence of euphoria or panic, of wild revelry or wide-eyed insurrection. This community remains focused on the work at hand, maintaining a subdued sanity, a reasoned approach to the present and to the future. Immense wealth may be falling from the skies, but Fast Company readers aren't jettisoning the values that brought them this far. They value performance over glitz. They seek equity for themselves and for others.
Oh, by the way, in the popularity race, it's Bill G. over Oprah W.
You find yourself with five job offers. You are equally qualified for each job, but the pay, the hours, and the organizational culture are very different in each case.
Yahoo!, the Internet search-engine company, offers $100,000 a year in salary, along with options for 1,000 shares (currently worth more than $150 apiece), which you'll get in five years. The hours are around-the-clock -- Silicon Valley Time. The people are young, and the place is intense but fun.
Goldman Sachs, the investment-banking firm, offers $100,000 in salary and a guaranteed bonus of at least $100,000 a year. The hours are intense. The culture is both cutthroat and highly politicized. But if you survive, the payoff will be big.
Ben & Jerry's, the ice-cream company, offers a salary of $75,000 and the possibility of a small bonus and modest stock options. The hours are reasonable. The office is in rustic Vermont. The people are easygoing. And you get all the ice cream you can eat.
Procter & Gamble, the consumer-products manufacturer, offers $100,000 in salary and the likelihood of a modest bonus. You'll work in Cincinnati, where people are nice. The hours are reasonable -- you won't have to work many nights or weekends -- and everything about the place is stable and predictable.
The Peace Corps will pay you $20,000 a year plus living expenses for two years. You'll work long hours in dingy quarters somewhere in Eastern Europe, but the place and the people promise to be fascinating. You're guaranteed to get your old job back after you complete your two-year stint.
Which job would you choose?
Yahoo! -- 24.0%
Goldman Sachs -- 8.9%
Ben & Jerry's -- 33.1%
Procter & Gamble -- 29.6%
Peace Corps -- 4.4%
Which job would you turn down first?
Yahoo! -- 14.7%
Goldman Sachs -- 36.0%
Ben & Jerry's -- 4.7%
Procter & Gamble -- 4.1%
Peace Corps -- 40.5%
Email
Digg
StumbleUpon
Facebook
Buzz Up!
LinkedIn
