Rachel Maynard
Rachel Maynard is 19, a full-time student and works as a kitchen manager at Pizza Port, a Solana Beach, California-based restaurant and microbrewery. At 19 years old, she is at the leading edge of what generational consultant Tammy Erickson labels as the "Re-Generation"—the next wave of people getting ready to make their mark on the workforce.
Erickson labels Maynard's peers as a generation of individuals shaped by environmental issues as well as the financial crisis of 2008. As a result, members of this generation are committed to sustainability and tend to be fiscally conservative. Compared to the millennials, Re-Gens are reluctant to incur debt, and more likely to save their money.
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When asked if she thinks the Great Recession shaped her worldview, Maynard responds: "It does, but I'm not fully informed on it." However, she did say that when her father lost his job around that time, her family wasn't severely affected because her dad had been good at saving money. Maynard says the situation made her realize the value of saving, and that she's becoming more of a saver.
Neil Howe, president and co-founder of LifeCourse Associates, refers to people Maynard's age as late-wave millennials. Howe says an important quality of this cohort is that they place a higher importance on education than older millennials.
"The idea of college and getting a degree is highly important to this group of people," he says.
Maynard emphasized how important college is to her. She's currently finishing her associate's degree and will be starting on her bachelor's soon. From there she says she might even go for her master's degree or maybe even a Ph.D.
"The world is more competitive today, so you need more education," she says.
Max Mihelich is Workforce's associate editor. Comment below or email editors@workforce.com. Follow Mihelich on Twitter at @workforcemax.
