Tough Times Force Gen Y to Buckle Down

They're just out of school, but Millennials—the Gen Y techies who expect jobs-a-plenty and accommodating bosses—are hitting career walls in a plunging economy, the Economist reports. These Internet-savvy job-hoppers are cringing as managers get tough and autonomy withers. “The recession is creating lower turnover, but also higher frustration among young people stuck in jobs,” said one consultant.

Milliennials may need to work harder, it's true, but managers must keep them engaged to avoid an exodus in better times. One way is to tap their smarts to succeed in down times: Best Buy, facing a multi-million-dollar bid to design an employee portal, hired its young workers to build one for a mere quarter mil. “We’ll weather the storm and be stronger because of the Net Generation,” said a Best Buy rep.