Millennials Would Trade Friendship For A Promotion

culled from:http://www.thegrindstone.com

Work friendship doesn’t matter as much to millennials as it does to their parents. | Source: ShutterStock

Yet another generational difference between millennials and baby boomers: These kids ain’t loyal.
A new LinkedIn study (via Time) reports that millennials would gladly ditch all of their work friends to get ahead, while baby boomers would stick by their pals instead of stepping on them to get a promotion. By the numbers, 68% of millennials said they would while 62% of boomers said they would never even consider it.
That sounds shady, but bear with the youngins: LinkedIn career expert Nicole Williams dishes, “It’s a positive difference as far as I’m concerned. Ultimately, [millennials] feel that these friendships will either survive or there will be new friendships … I think there is a sense of competitiveness and that you need to be competitive in order to survive.”
Another factor Williams points out is that millennials will probably bounce between companies a lot throughout their careers, whereas baby boomers are more likely to stick with the same firms for decades at a time. “If you thought you’d be sticking around for 20 years, I think you’d be more conscious in terms of your relationships.”
Williams summed it up to make it seem like we’re just using our pals as stepping stones: “[Millennials] are using these friendships to advance themselves professionally.” Remember that at your next company Christmas party.